(IsraelNN.com) The Jewish Agency has ended a long-standing dispute with the highly successful Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) organization and has agreed to allow it to manage the North American aliyah program. The Jewish Agency officially retains responsibility for moving new immigrants to Israel and will pay for a one-way air ticket to Israel, but in practice NBN will manage the actual aliyah files.

Competition between the two groups had grown unfriendly following NBN's ability in the past years to turn around the downward trend in aliyah from North America and bring thousands of Jews to Israel on several flights every year. Even the announcement of the agreement that was revealed Sunday night was delayed several days until the two agencies could agree on the wording of the final document.

Applications for aliyah now will be made exclusively through NBN in the new "one-stop" program that prevents duplication paperwork and instead streamlines the bureaucracy.
 
"The Jewish Agency is confident that as a result of this cooperation with Nefesh B’Nefesh, aliyah from North America will grow,” said Zev Bielski, chairman of the Jewish Agency. "The Jewish Agency will continue to pursue its mission to facilitate immigration to Israel from all over the world.”

The Jewish Agency has shrunk its "sheliach" department that deploys agents in major world cities to promote aliyah. They now work according to NBN's methods, which have produced results far better than those of the Jewish Agency. NBN's strategy has been to work closely with potential immigrants to Israel, helping them find employment and often offering financial grants.

The result has been a nearly 100-percent success rate when measured by new olim (immigrants) remaining in Israel, compared with a previous return rate that has been estimated at up to one third.

The NBN organization also operates a comprehensive support network in Israel which helps the new arrivals find work, connect socially and maintain ties with the agency, thus providing ongoing technical and emotional support in the first critical years when adjustment is most difficult. It offers many olim who immigrate through the organization loans that are turned into grants after a number of years in the country. Perhaps most importantly, according to the olim themselves, Nefesh B'Nefesh workers and volunteers help the immigrants navigate the complicated Israeli bureaucracy.
 
Tony Gelbart, co-founder of NBN, stated that the "agreement will enable Nefesh B’Nefesh to further fulfill our mission of making aliyah as seamless and successful as possible."
 
Discussions are underway concerning the possibility of extending the new agreement to include Britain, where NBN also has successfully operated.