BEN-GURION
AIRPORT - Tuesday’s terror attack at the entrance to Netanya's
Hasharon Mall did not deter North American families from
moving to Israel.
Some 250 immigrants arrived in Israel Wednesday on a flight
from New York and another 150 from Toronto - the largest group
to make aliya from North America since the founding of the
state.
The new immigrants were received by Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon at special welcoming ceremony at Ben-Gurion
International Airport.
Sharon
greets immigrants at Ben-Gurion Airport (Photo:
GPO)
However Sharon started his speech by welcoming the new
immigrants in Hebrew, even though many could not understand.
“We often combine happiness with grief, “ he said. “Your
arrival is a source of great happiness for us, but yesterday
we were faced with a murderous act of terror that has caused
us all grief.”
The only
safe place
Jeff Rochberger from New Jersey made aliyah with his wife
and five children. After landing in Israel, they drove
straight to the town of Bet Shemesh near Jerusalem, where many
of their friends have relocated over the past few years.
See video
of new immigrants' landing:
While terror exists all over the world, he said, Israel was
the one place he felt safe.
Another immigrant, Shana Harris, 17, came to Israel to be
with her boyfriend Roee Shemen from Herzlia, and volunteer for
the army. She told Ynet that she had planned to immigrate to
Israel since the age of 13.
Netanya-bound
In an ironic twist, one immigrant family, the
Bermans – including four children, two dogs, two birds, a
chinchilla and a gerbil - decided to make their new home in
Netanya.
Dr. David Berman is a well-known plastic surgeon
from Potomac, Maryland who made headlines several years ago
for reattaching John Bobbitt’s severed penis several years
ago.
Now, he’ll open a practice in a city that has
suffered multiple terror attacks since the Oslo process began
in 1993, including the infamous seder night bombing at the
city’on the first night of Pesach in 2002.
Another couple, Jordan and Stella Frankel,
formerly of Potomac, Maryland. He’s a high school principle,
she’s a Japanese convert equally comfortable cooking cholent
for Shabbat and the sushi she grew up with.
The newly religious couple will make their new home in the
Gush Etzion settlement of Neve Daniel.
Call of
the moment
At a farewell ceremony on Tuesday at New York's Kennedy
Airport, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon pointed
out Israel is not the only terrorist target in the world.
“There’s terrorism in New York and London also,” he
said.
As the new immigrants boarded the plane, Ayalon praised
their “important decision,” and said aliya is the most
important thing American Jews can do to strengthen Israel.
“It’s the call of the moment,” he said.
One absorption official said the current economic
state of both countries means it is an opportune time for Jews
to make aliya.
"Given the explosion in U.S. housing prices in recent
years, many people can sell their homes in America for record
prices and buy homes at bargain prices in Israel,” he
said.
2000 new
immigrants a year
Together, the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization and the Jewish Agency bring approximately 2,000 new
immigrants a year to Israel, most of whom receive financial
support and help finding work.
The initiative, financed in part by Florida
millionaire Tony Gelbart, began three years, as an attempt to
bring one Jewish person on aliya for every Israeli killed in
the al-Aqsa intifada.
