A Jewish Agency envoy who allowed 200 Venuzuelans with false conversions to make aliyah was arrested.
The agency’s envoy to South America told the Immigration Police who arrested him at Ben Gurion Airport upon his arrival Tuesday night that he was aware that the rabbi who converted the Venezuelans was not authorized to do so.
Police, who completed a long and complex investigation of the envoy, suspect that the employee, who once ran the absorption center in Ra’anana, was trying to impress the Jewish Agency with his performance, though the Jewish Agency denies that its emissaries are evaluated by the number of immigrants they send to Israel.
Most of the Venezuelans were convinced to make aliyah with promises of benefits from the state, Ha’aretz reported. Some have left Israel in recent years.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
