A charter flight carrying 238 North American olim was set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday to a warm welcome. The flight, organized by Nefesh B'nefesh and the Jewish Agency, was to be met by hundreds of families and friends as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and countless other dignitaries.

Among the new olim are 55 youngsters soon to be drafted to the Israel Defense Forces as part of the recently expanded Nefesh B'Nefesh soldier aliyah fund.

One of the new soldiers, Tsvi Mark from Maryland, who plans to enlist in the IDF's elite Egoz unit immediately after making Aliyah, was training at the West Point U.S. Military Academy when he decided to make Aliyah.


"I had always wanted to join the U.S. army and train at West Point, but once I was there I realized that what I really wanted was to go home, to our land, our people and our army," Mark said.

Also on board was a large contingent of 35 olim from Cleveland, Ohio. The CEO of American Greetings Corporation Zev Weiss joined them to accompany his dear friend, and CEO of Intellectual Property Joseph Mandelbaum, who made Aliyah on the flight.

Tuesday's charter plane was to feature the winning logo of the Nefesh B'Nefesh and BabagaNewz.com, an educational website for Jewish middle-schoolers and teachers, 'Destination Israel' logo design contest, which encouraged students in Grades 4 - 7 to create an Aliyah plane logo. The winning entry, drawn by sixth grader Esther Bellinsky, was painted on the side of the plane.