Nefesh B’Nefesh Welcomes its 60,000th Oleh on Aliyah Charter Flight
242 Olim (new immigrants) from North America landed at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday on Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 60th specially chartered ELAL flight. The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel (KKL) and Jewish National Fund-USA.
The new Olim are from a variety of backgrounds culturally and demographically – hailing from 22 US states and two Canadian provinces. They include 103 children under the age of 17, 21 medical professionals, three sets of twins, and a 28-day-old baby, who officially became the youngest Oleh to make Aliyah with Nefesh B’Nefesh this summer.
In addition, the flight also carried 41 future Lone Soldiers – those volunteering to serve in the IDF without immediate family living in Israel – who will join the close to 1,000 Lone Soldiers from North America, and the close to 4,000 Lone Soldiers from around the world. These young men and women, once they become Israeli citizens, enlist in the IDF as required of all Israelis at the age of 18, some of whom will be doing so through Tzofim-Garin Tzabar.