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The Amudim organization has spent months working around the clock with various government agencies, to allow Yeshiva and seminary students return to their studies in Israel. As it seemed that all the efforts were successful, now all that the organization has accomplished is potentially at risk.

According to Rabbi Zvi Gluck, CEO of Amudim, as a result of fraud actions of several people, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is strongly considering requiring all students to go through a process which is can take weeks, if not months, just to get a visa appointment. "There are over 14,000 yeshiva and seminary students and kollel couples learning in Israel each year", Rabbi Gluck emphasizes, "The current application process that gets them there is now in jeopardy".

Rabbi Gluck explains that Amudim has invested countless hours and resources to facilitate overseas travel in recent months. "We have served as a liaison between private citizens and the Israel consulate, in addition to many other government agencies around the world", he explains, "A group representing themselves as yeshiva students came to Amudim with all the required legal documentation, so we could help them apply for the student visas.

According to Rabbi Gluck, together with team members David Kushner and Ushy Lieber, he spent countless hours with the group, reviewing more than 20 documents for each of the 30 plus student applicants. "After thinking that everything was in proper order,", he says, "we submitted the applications to the Israel consulate on Monday, June 14th".

"We made it clear to these applicants that it can take up to a week to get the visas back", Rabbi Gluck says, "They were advised to not call or email the consulate because doing so would slow down the process. A red flag appeared on Tuesday morning, June 15th. We received multiple frantic phone calls from some of the applicants. Additionally, the consulate advised us that they too were being besieged by many calls regarding the student visa status for the same school".

"Here Is the Real Story", he explains, "A high-profile wedding scheduled to take place in Israel this coming week was the reason for these applicants to find a way to enter Israel. Realizing that current travel restrictions make it extremely difficult for most people to get into Israel, some unethical individuals managed to get a yeshiva, which is approved by the Ministry of the Interior, and used it as a front to obtain student visas. The paperwork included documents signed by the head of the yeshiva confirming that the applicants would all be learning in that school for a minimum of one year. This is a blatant lie. Unbelievably, these individuals pulled every trick in the book to beat the system and attempt to get to Israel for this wedding".

Rabbi Gluck has a personal message to each and every individual who participated in the fraud: "In addition to tarnishing the reputation of Amudim and the Orthodox Jewish community, your reckless actions have caused immeasurable damage. We at Amudim are working tirelessly to ensure that this incident should not present additional obstacles for yeshiva and seminary students seeking to learn in Eretz Yisroel this coming year. We value and appreciate that the majority of those who seek our assistance do so in accordance with proper guidelines".

In wake of the incident, the organization emphasizes that it maintains a strict no-fee policy. "We neither charge for our myriad services nor solicit donations in exchange for results", Rabbi Gluck explains and adds: "Should anyone hear of an incident where monies were requested by Amudim personnel or affiliates in exchange for services, whether as a charge or by donation, please report the incident to us immediately. We take such allegations very seriously and will swiftly and efficiently investigate and address all such reports".