The cabinet will vote on Sunday on a proposal to grant the independent aliyah organizations Nefesh B’Nefesh and Ami permanent funding. The proposal is supported by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Immigration Absorption Minister Yaakov Edery, and is expected to pass.
Nefesh B’Nefesh assists new olim (immigrants) from the United States, Canada, and Britain, while Ami assists olim from France. Both groups have received government aid on a trial basis for the past two years. Most new olim from the US, Britain, and France make aliyah through Nefesh B’Nefesh and Ami, and the two groups are expected to bring almost 5,000 new olim in 2007.
If the proposal passes, the two groups will receive a budget of NIS 19 million from the Immigrant Absorption agency in 2008.