During summer, 1,500 to arrive from N. America, 150 from the UK.
By JPOST.COM STAFFolim 88(photo credit: )
Despite the war, over 4,000 new immigrants from all over the world will have arrived in Israel from the beginning of July until the end of August, the Jewish Agency announced late Monday.
Almost 550 new immigrants to arrive on Wednesday morning, on three special Nefesh B'Nefesh/Jewish Agency El-Al Flights, which will land simultaneously from New York, Toronto and London. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jewish Agency Chairman, Ze'ev Bielski will greet the new arrivals.
According to Jewish Agency estimates, 24,000 people from countries around the world will immigrate to Israel in the course of 2006, up from the 22,657 people who made aliyah in 2005.
During the summer months, six EL AL flights will land in Israel carrying 1,500 new immigrants from North America. By the end of the year, it is estimated that there will be a total of 3,400 new immigrants from North America, up from 2,987 in 2005.
In parallel, two special ISRAIR flights - from Paris and Marseille - landed in Israel on July 25 bringing 650 new immigrants from France. This is the first time in decades that such a large number of new immigrants from France have landed in one day. The expectation is that there will be 3,500 new immigrants from France this year, as opposed to 3005 in 2005.
For the first time, there will be a special EL AL flight this summer from Great Britain bringing 150 new immigrants. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a marked rise in immigration from Great Britain.
By the end of July, the number of new immigrants from Britain was 328, up from 215 over the same period last year. By the end of the year 2006, 500 new immigrants are expected to have arrived from Britain.
