More than 200 new olim (immigrants) from the United States and Canada were hailed as an "inspiration" as they were greeted by leading officials at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport earlier Tuesday.
The 218 olim landed on an El Al Boeing 777 chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh, and hailed from 17 US states and two Canadian provinces The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA.
Among the varied crowd of new Israelis were former servicemen from three different US Armed Forces units, families of all sizes, young professionals and others.
Speaking to the olim at a festive ceremony welcoming them to the Jewish homeland, Nefesh B'Nefesh Co-Founder and Executive Director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass praised them as "pioneers."
"We are celebrating today the Aliyah of hundreds of new Olim who will begin their lives in the Jewish State, many of whom are modern-day pioneers moving to Israel's North and South," said Rabbi Fass.
"The thousands of Jews that will be returning to their homeland from the Diaspora over the course of this year are an inspiration to us all in helping to spearhead the future of the State of Israel."
Other notable guests at the ceremony included Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beytenu); Chairman of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, MK Avraham Neguise (Likud); Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky; World Chairman of KKL-JNF, Danny Atar; and fellow Nefesh B'Nefesh Co-Founder Tony Gelbart.
Today’s planeload of olim is the first of two charters - which, along with nine group Aliyah flights and olim arriving independently on a daily basis, will bring 2,000 Olim making Aliyah through Nefesh B’Nefesh this summer.
Since 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh, together with its partners, has brought nearly 50,000 Jews to Israel from the US, Canada and the UK.
Absorption Minister Landver also welcomed the olim to Israel, praising North American immigrants as an "asset" to the country.
"On behalf of myself and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, I want to welcome all the new Olim to Israel. In recent years, the Ministry has invested a great number of resources into Aliyah and we see North American immigration as a wonderful asset to the country – one that provides strength both economically and on a nationalistic level," she said.
"Our office provides a smooth absorption process and ensures that every new Oleh will receive the utmost personal attention in order to quickly integrate into Israeli society.
"Especially now, as global terrorism raises its head, it is not a given that a person will decide to leave his home and settle somewhere new, but as Jews, we know that we always have a home waiting for us - the State of Israel."
Chairman of the Jewish Agency - which also facilitates aliyah - Natan Sharansky, noted that olim from the US and Canada tend to be uniquely motivated, since their reasons for moving to Israel are primarily positive.
"The immigrants arriving from the United States and Canada are coming not out of distress but rather out of excitement to take part in the largest national project of the Jewish people," Sharansky stated.
In a possible veiled reference to religious reforms he has been pushing for, Sharansky added: "We must ensure that the State of Israel remains a place in which every Jew feels at home, a place that ignites Jews’ imagination and strengthens their identity and security."
World Chairman of KKL-JNF Danny Atar stated that “Aliyah to Israel is the foundation on which the Zionist enterprise stands on.
"It is the clearest expression of our love to the land of Israel. I am certain that each oleh will contribute his part to the flourishment and prosperity of the State of Israel and from our part, we must provide them with all the tools in order to adapt to and assimilate in Israel in the best way possible."