Coronavirus hasn’t stopped aliyah. On Monday evening, 53 new immigrants from Ukraine landed in Israel, and 44 olim from Uzbekistan and Georgia also arrived in Israel two days earlier, both with the assistance of the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship).
The Jewish Agency and The Fellowship, in cooperation with numerous agencies abroad and in Israel, worked for several months to bring the groups, despite their aliyah being postponed due to the pandemic. The groups are spending their mandatory days in quarantine before continuing to their new homes.
Among the olim from Georgia were Mikheil (38), Nino (27) and son Nika (6) who lived in Zugdidi, Georgia and plan to move to Kiryat Yam, close to family members. “We are the last Jewish family in the city as everyone has already made it to Israel,” Mikheil, an economist by profession, noted. “We celebrated the recent holidays with family members in Israel over video chat. Now that we have made aliyah, we can celebrate with them all together in one place. We originally planned to come in March and to celebrate Passover together, but the borders were closed so we were forced to wait until now.”
“Aliyah from all over the world has never stopped, not during times of war nor during the current crisis of the coronavirus that has paralyzed the entire world,” Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog said. “With their new lives in Israel, they are continuing the exciting legacy of families, couples and individuals who have decided to fulfill the Zionist dream.”
“The Fellowship is working tirelessly to help Jews around the world realize their dream of making aliyah to Israel while also adhering to existing health and safety precautions,” added Fellowship, President and CEO Yael Eckstein. “We are grateful to our partners at the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption and Home Front Command for their cooperation in this very challenging mission, and we wish the olim health and prosperity in the new homes.”