Fellowship Global Aliyah Marathon Kicks Off This Summer!

This week jumpstarts a massive summer marathon of aliyah (immigration to Israel) flights sponsored by the global Fellowship efforts, which will bring 2,300 olim (immigrants) from 15 countries to Israel within the next three months.

Just this week alone, 382 olim from six countries will have arrived in Israel on flights with The Fellowship, in what will be a 12-week series of airlifts bringing some 2,300 olim to Israel throughout the upcoming summer months. This will bring the total number of olim The Fellowship has gathered to Israel so far in 2017 to 3,900.

Over 5,000 olim are expected to immigrate to Israel with The Fellowship by the end of this year. The immigrants hail from 15 countries global Fellowship efforts are taking place, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, and one country in the Middle East, which could not be identified for security reasons.

Over the past three years, The Fellowship’s aliyah program has flourished, and in 2016 The Fellowship tripled the number of olim it brought to Israel, taking in more than 4,500 olim from 24 countries and becoming an increasingly key force in overall aliyah to Israel.

During the first half of 2017, The Fellowship was responsible for bringing 47 percent of all the olim coming from countries where the organization is active, an increase from the 41 percent in 2016. In several countries, The Fellowship is the dominant aliyah force (for example, 74 percent of Ukrainian olim and 92 percent of Uruguayan olim came with The Fellowship to Israel). In some cases, such as in Venezuela, 100 percent of all the olim from that country came with The Fellowship and resettled in Israel.

The Fellowship focuses its aliyah efforts on Jews in the lower socioeconomic range who need greater help and financial support, as well as Jews who suffer from security threats rooted in terror or anti-Semitism in their native countries.

Fellowship field staff reports, for example, that French Jews tend to come on aliyah because of the anti-Semitism and the deep-seated desire to give their children a chance for a happier and safer future. Ukrainian olim, on the other hand, are motivated mostly by the crumbling national economy and challenges of joining the workforce after the serious depression that followed the civil war that has also created thousands of Jewish refugees in that country. Venezuelan Jews endure both these factors and also seek a better, brighter future in Israel.

In order to give the olim a positive absorption experience, The Fellowship carries out a variety of programs. For example, each immigrant is met at the airport and receives a package of financial and social benefits that are custom-designed for their family’s needs. These include airline tickets and an $800 stipend per adult and $400 stipend per child up to age 16, and much more.

Additionally, The Fellowship escorts the olim throughout the process, beginning with pre-immigration learning sessions and culminating in vital services such as job placement, school registration, housing, and other assistance, including scholarships for children to attend summer camps.

“Aliyah has always been and is still a critical factor in Israeli society,” says Rabbi Eckstein. “Most new olim who arrive in Israel are young, educated careerists whose professions and skills are keys to stimulating the economic growth and viability of the country. I am pleased to see more and more Jews choosing to come to Israel with The Fellowship, and I wish all the olim an enjoyable summer and successful adjustment into Israeli society. I assure them that we will be by their side every step of the way.”

Help fulfill biblical prophecy and join in our aliyah efforts by sending a generous gift to our On Wings of Eagles ministry.

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