Remember the Olim

In a front page article in today’s Jerusalem Post, it seems there is a possible deal in the works to settle the very public, and not so nice, feud between the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh.

It’s all about ego, influence, posturing and money. Yup; basically cold hard cash, prestige and bragging rights.

JAFI, the quasi-government body responsible for Aliyah, plays a part in facilitating the process for all potential Olim world-over. NBN, working solely with those from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., is a nimble, entrepreneurial organization who helps selected Olim integrate into Israeli life.

They both do good. Some services certainly overlap and could possible be eliminated by one or the other. But the prize, being at the forefront of Aliyah from the largest Diaspora community in the world is huge.

So, let’s hope they both get their acts together and come to some type of agreement everyone can live with.

The message to all: we are solidly, especially from the West, in an era of Aliyah By Choice.

Don’t forget: the real stakeholders are the Olim and the State of Israel.