Newscaster: 204 new immigrants from North American landed in Israel at Ben Gurion Airport today. This was the latest flight of newcomers from the US and Canada to be organized by the Nefesh B''Nefesh organization. Today''s flight was the last of the summer, and raises the total number of western immigrants this year to over 3,000. Joining us now in Danny Oberman, executive vice president of Israel operations for Nefesh B''Nefesh. Danny, welcome .
Danny Oberman: Good afternoon .
Newscaster: Tell me, 3,000 is a very impressive number and quite a significant accomplishment. Has efforts by Nefesh B''Nefesh raised Aliyah from western countries ?
Danny Oberman: Nefesh B''Nefesh is active in North America and the UK, and yes, we are seeing an increase in number due to a number of factors .
Newscaster: Speaking of these numbers again it''s quite impressive that Nefesh B''Nefesh is responsible for organizing. But tell me, does the involvement from your organization end with the immigration, or do you continue to have ties with this community ?
Danny Oberman: One of the reasons that the people here who have come are satisfied, there''s high levels of satisfaction is because our organization bridges the Aliyah process from the time that the person is considering Aliyah till they arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, during the flight, after their arrival, and for years afterwards, Nefesh B''Nefesh is in touch with them. They know there''s one address that they can go to. During their first year in Israel, for example, our teams call every family once a month, we want to identify a problem before it turns into a disaster. One of the numbers we''re proudest of is our attention rate. Since we started in 2002, we''ve photographed 22,000-23,000 Olim, and over 98% are still here. So we''re very proud of that number, and look forward to the snowball affect continuing .
Newscaster: That''s actually quite impressive that you track and stay in touch with them. Tell me, has Nefesh B''Nefesh affectively taken over North American and UK Aliyah from the Jewish Agency ?
Danny Oberman: We have an agreement with the Jewish Agency in North America, and we are the primary provider of Aliyah services in North America. The Jewish Agency of course retains its role for approving people for Aliyah under Israel''s Law of Return .
Newscaster: I understand today''s flight was the singles flight, and there was a great deal of partying and happy celebration going on. So do you engage in matchmaking activities as well ?
Danny Oberman: Not actively, but we do seat the singles together on the flight, as we do seat people who are going to the same destination together on the flights. So there is a lot of social activity on the plane, people sleep very little. I think this morning''s ceremony''s highlight was an Ole who made Aliyah 4 years ago proposed on stage to one of the Olot who just got off the plane .
Newscaster : מזל טוב!
Danny Oberman: And it was a very exciting moment .
Newscaster: What a wonderful homecoming. Okay, Danny Oberman, executive vice president of the Israel Operations for Nefesh B''Nefesh, thank you so much for coming in .
Danny Oberman: Thank you for having me .