Aliyah Day celebrates arrival of over 15,000 new immigrants so far this year
Immigration way down on 2019 figures due to COVID- 19 pandemic
Israel celebrates Aliyah Day on Sunday in what has become an extremely complicated year for immigration to the Jewish state but more than 15,000 new immigrants have nevertheless arrived so far in 2020 despite the global pandemic.
The COVID- 19 crisis shut down air travel for long periods drastically reducing the number of flights available and it has closed or restricted the operations of government agencies, all of which have made the usually daunting task of aliyah even more difficult this year.
But despite the additional obstacles, 15,647 pioneering souls have made it to the Israel’s shores so far this year, the youngest of whom, from the UK, was just 20 days old, while the oldest, from Canada, was the grand old age of 97.
However, this figure is far below the 29,419 immigrants who arrived in Israel from January to October 2019.
“Aliyah Week is a great opportunity to salute the new Olim as well as the ones who have already settled, for their tremendous contribution to national, economic and social growth,” said Immigration and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano- Shata.
“Since the establishment of the state of Israel, more than 3 million Olim have made aliyah, and despite the challenges of the global pandemic, the increase continues. Since the beginning of the year, we have embraced more than 15,000 Olim, and we expect significant waves of Aliyah in the next five years. Therefore, I formulated and submitted to the government a comprehensive national five- year plan to promote the encouragement of Aliyah and optimal integration of the Olim.”
One of the newest of Israel’s new immigrants is Florence Wiener, 72, who made aliyah in September with the assistance of the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization which assists in aliyah from North America.
Wiener was born in 1948 at the Bergen- Belsen displaced persons camp where her parents ended up after surviving the Holocaust, and met and married after their respective families were murdered by the Nazis.
Florence’s parents originally considered emigrating to the
fledgling State of Israel and sent some belongings in 1948, but in the end, they decided to move to the US due to the intense trauma they suffered during the Holocaust.
“My parents wanted Israel for their children, but they couldn’t pull it off, after the trauma of the Holocaust they said they couldn’t go from the trauma of one war to another, they said they had to protect their children,” Florence said.
Her husband, David, said that he and Florence had for a long time wanted to make aliyah, and came close on a couple of occasions in the 1970s and 1980s but that it never quite worked out.
“We grew up with very Zionistic parents so it was always something we were thinking about,” he said, noting that he and Florence visited Israel for nine weeks in 1970, and even lined up jobs, but that ultimately they needed to return to the US.
Florence, David and their 5 children spent two years living in Israel in the early 1980s during her husband’s sabbatical, and although the family very much wanted to remain, circumstances meant that it was not the right time for the move.
But this September it finally happened.
“My husband David reinforced those feelings of love of Israel, and strong ties to the state, and it was just something that became a strong part of my life,” she said of her motivation to move here.
Florence says that having waited for so long to finally make aliyah, the COVID- 19 pandemic did not put her off.
“I got married very young, I had triplets at a time when that was not something normal I had to take care of my parents when they were elderly,” she recalls. “Everything was a challenge, but I did it.”
“Then COVID comes along then you say to yourself ‘ This is just another challenge and I’m
going to move on and I’m going to do the best I can. I’ll try and be safe, do the best I can, and I’m don’t regret it, I’m so happy here,” said Florence.
“We have three children and many grandchildren living in here, and we thought that it’s time to be here now, and it’s great now to finally be here,” said David.
Jordana Meyer, 22, is another recent immigrant who arrived in July. She recently completed her undergraduate degree at New York University, where she was also the leader of a pro- Israel advocacy student group and a champion of the Jewish state on campus.
Meyer was involved in numerous battles for Israel’s image during her time in university while being the subject of several antisemitic attacks.
She said she grew up in a very Zionist household, went to a Jewish day school, and was a member of the Young Judea Zionist youth movement, and that Zionist and love of Israel was “always in the air” in her home and the possibility of aliyah was always a real one.
Although deeply committed to her campus activities on behalf of Israel, Jordana said that it became “exhausting and draining” because of the constant struggle against anti- Israel voices but that further spurred her desire for aliyah.
“I was combating BDS, I was telling high schoolers about college life for Jewish students, and hearing myself telling those stories, reinforced those dormant feelings in me that my place isn’t in US anymore, but was in Israel,” she said. • defense establishment.
The PM said that there was “no basis” to the statement that there had been secret negotiations and that he didn’t agree to any such thing. The Americans, he said, only asked him after the deal was signed and that Israel did not agree to pull its objections until Gantz returned from Washington on Friday after securing Israel’s QME.
On Friday, in a joint announcement by the offices of Netanyahu and Gantz, Israel announced that it would not oppose the sale of F- 35s to the United Arab Emirates.
The joint announcement came after Gantz returned from Washington, DC.
The agreement that was signed between Jerusalem and Washington, the statement said, and will enable long- term procurement plans that will provide Israel with advanced weapons systems, “significantly upgrade its military capabilities, fortify Israel’s security and regional military superiority and preserve its qualitative military edge in the coming decades.”
During Gantz’s whirlwind visit, he was informed that Washington plans to notify Congress in the near future of its intention to supply the UAE with “certain weapons systems,” likely the advanced F- 35 stealth fighter jet.
Gantz flew to Washington on Wednesday night for a “security
meeting” with Esper, as well as discussions with other Pentagon officials. It was his second flight to the US capital in a month following the normalization of ties with the United Arab Emirates, which has made clear it wants to procure the F- 35.
The possible sale has caused controversy in Israel. Although Washington has been selling Abu Dhabi millions in military deals, the US has been bound to preserve Israel’s QME in the Middle East before selling any advanced weaponry to regional states.
In another statement released by Gantz’s office, he said Netanyahu knew about the sale of the F- 35 to Abu Dhabi during the negotiations but kept it hidden from the defense establishment.
“The defense minister considers achieving peace and regional stability a strategic value and therefore led an independent action” with the Trump administration to ensure both the normalization deal with the UAE and Israel’s security, the statement said.
During Gantz’s visit, he and Esper signed a joint declaration confirming Washington’s strategic commitment to maintaining Israel’s QME in the Middle East. A senior defense source said the document signed was a general commitment and that discussions were ongoing over what Washington will provide Jerusalem to offset the sale of the F- 35 to the UAE.
“This is not the end of the story,” said the source, adding that the specifics of “what we are getting and what we aren’t getting and what they’ll sell us later” would be determined in future discussions.
The source confirmed, however, that the V- 22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft that Israel has wanted to procure for several years is once again being considered.
The multi- role combat aircraft uses tiltrotor technology, combining the vertical performance of helicopters ( such as for takeoffs and landings) with the speed, altitude and range of fixed- wing planes, making them the ideal aircraft for sensitive missions as they don’t need runways.
“It was important for me once again to reaffirm the special relationship between our two countries, the commitment we have made to Israel’s security based on our shared values, our shared history, and I want to thank you for your personal efforts in the past few weeks,” Esper said.
Thanking Esper, Gantz mentioned the various discussions that “reassured” Washington’s bipartisan commitment to Israel’s QME.
“Now that we are entering an era of positive normalization processes in the Middle East, which actually can face an aggressive Iran across the region, this ability of continued cooperation is so very important, and I am looking forward to hosting you in Israel,” he said.
The source also said the UAE is not the only country that will likely acquire advanced weapons systems from the US following additional normalization agreements between them and Israel. •