he number of families from North America settling in the Galilee through an immigrant assistance program will be approximately 300 by the end of 2010, nearly double the number of immigrants in 2009, the year the program began. Officials from Nefesh B'Nefesh, which promotes immigration from the U.S., Canada and the U.K., said its $10 million Go North program is on track toward its stated goal of recruiting 1,000 new immigrants to the Galiliee and Golan.

"The figure is more than we projected, and the success is a credit to the first group of olim," who spread the word about their satisfaction and thus personally helped recruit others, says Danny Oberman, NBN executive vice president. Most immigrants have moved to Karmiel, Ma'alot, Nahariya, Safed and Katzrin, although Afula and Misgav were also initially target communities for the program. Some 235 of the projected 300 families this year have already come, with the other 65 still in the pipeline, according to NBN.

The initiative offers need-based grants of up to $25,000 and subsidies for vehicles, as well as on-site employment and social services. The project is funded by the Russell Berrie Foundation.

The Go North program offers two tracks for potential olim to choose. The Garin Track helps groups of families move to pre-selected communities, where NBN has staffed to manage the arrival of these immigrants. A designated local regional absorption coordinator seeks rental housing options and develops social and educational programming. The second track offers the option of integrating directly into an Israeli community.

Chaim Waxman, a Rutgers professor emeritus in Israel who researches immigration to the country, says that most of the newcomers he is familiar with have succeeded in finding appropriate work in a timely way.

In June, the Absorption Ministry raised its own monthly rent subsidy from NIS 600 to NIS 1,200 for new immigrants settling in the north, covering the major towns and many kibbutzim, and Negev communities such as Arad, Dimona, and Be'er Sheva.