Hanukkah this year marks the commencement of a new chapter in Jewish immigration with Israel now counting 1,008,000 Jews, Itzhak Raphael, Jewish Agency immigration chief, revealed today. He announced that 90,000 immigrants are expected to arrive here within the next six months.
Mr. Raphael added that prospects for the immigration to Israel of self-supporting pioneer immigrants from North and South America, South Africa and Eastern Europe were improving. Thirty thousand Jews have already come to Israel from Turkey and 50,000 more are preparing to immigrate here, he said.
Asserting that the Jewish communities of Benghazi and Derma in Libya have been “liquidated,” Mr. Raphael said that “20,000 Jews remaining in Libya are ready with their luggage for the journey to Israel.” Fifty thousand Jews are awaiting transportation to Israel in 18 transit camps, he said, while 200 immigration officers are secretly supervising Israel-bound immigration from many countries.
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