Last update - 00:00 25/12/2007
Nefesh B`Nefesh, JA publish conflicting immigration numbers
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent
At 7 A.M. on Thursday, a rented plane will land at Ben-Gurion Airport, filled with about 200 new immigrants from the U.S. and Canada - the last group of immigrants for 2007.
A large delegation of VIPs will welcome them - including President Shimon Peres - in a heartwarming ceremony marking their return to the Jewish homeland, and all the product of aliya organization Nefesh B'Nefesh, a private group that assists in bringing new immigrants from North America and Britain and helping them settle.
But behind the scenes, a vicious struggle is going on between Nefesh B'Nefesh and the Jewish Agency, the semi-official body that traditionally has handled aliya since the founding of the state.
The Jewish Agency is fighting the government and private Jewish organizations, which are interested in ending the Agency's monopoly over aliya.
Last week figures for 2007 aliya were published by three different organizations: the Jewish Agency, the Absorption Ministry and Nefesh B'Nefesh. There is very little correlation between the different numbers, and while the differences are not really that great - at most 200 immigrants either way - the competing bodies are manipulating the figures to justify their claims.
According to Nefesh B'Nefesh figures, there was a moderate rise in the number of immigrants from North America and Britain, despite the overall drop in immigration numbers. The group says its active outreach is what led to more immigration from the countries in which it works.
The Jewish Agency, however, contradict this claim, saying its figures show a significant drop in the number of immigrants from Britain - a 20 percent decline - along with a 7 percent drop in North America immigrantion.
Off the record, officials from both sides say the other is using unreliable statistics, and that only they have the true and official numbers.
The Jewish Agency further claims that Nefesh B'Nefesh put out a press release about the immigration numbers to boast and justify the group's request for more funds from the state and Jewish philanthropists.
Nefesh B'Nefesh claims that its waiting list has 20,000 Jews who want to move to Israel. Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon, co-chairman of Nefesh B'Nefesh, said the organization could have brought many more immigrants, if it had the necessary budget. The group hopes to receive a large contribution soon from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who recently pledged $60 million to the birthright program, which brings young Jews on a free educational trip to Israel. (Birthright is another group that competes with the Jewish Agency, and Adelson has consistently resisted many intensive attempts by Agency chairman Zeev Bielski to convince him to contribute to the Agency.)
Another disagreement between the two organizations concerns the actual number of immigrants brought by Nefesh B'Nefesh. They claim 2,740 came under their auspices, while the Jewish Agency says the number is closer to 1,800.
Nefesh B'Nefesh says the difference is in whom they include, in this case Jews from abroad who already lived in Israel but decided to change their status and become Israeli citizens once here, utilizing a special program through Nefesh B'Nefesh.
"In the end, we are not measured only by the absolute number of immigrants who arrived, but in particular, by the number of immigrants who came under our auspices and stayed despite the difficulties in Israel," said a Nefesh B'Nefesh senior official. "In the past, over 40 percent [of immigrants] returned to their countries of origin, but 99 percent of the immigrants who came through us stayed here."
The Jewish Agency says these high figures are because Nefesh B'Nefesh "selects the higher quality immigrants," while the Agency is required to bring anyone who meets the criteria under the Law of Return.
Moreover, immigrants sign a commitment to return tens of thousands of shekels in grants to Nefesh B'Nefesh if they leave Israel.
The Absorption Ministry's figures, published this week, show a drop in aliya in 2007, including from North America and Britain. But the ministry cites the Jewish Agency's continued failure in the aliya field as the reason for a cabinet decision four months ago to provide private aliya organizations such as Nefesh B'Nefesh with a NIS 19 million budget, despite the Agency's stubborn opposition.
The ministry is now talking about a further erosion of the Agency's standing, by allowing the other groups to open official aliya files - a job that until now was exclusively granted to Agency representatives.
One good thing may have come out of this fight: the Jewish Agency seems to be adopting the private organizations' methods of providing absorption help to immigrants.
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