JERUSALEM (JTA) — A charter aliyah flight brought 360 new immigrants to Israel, including 104 young men and women who have enlisted in the military.
The flight for North American immigrants, carrying 132 singles and 120 children, arrived Tuesday at Ben Gurion International Airport from New York. The flight was organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh and The Jewish Agency in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, and was sponsored by Friends of the IDF. It is one of two charter and seven group aliyah flights scheduled to arrive in Israel this summer.
The new soldiers will receive additional assistance, including financial grants, social support, quarterly care packages and post-army integrative services, including educational guidance, career counseling and job placement.
Many of them are part of the Tzofim Garin Tzabar program, which is affiliated with Israel’s Scouts program in which a group of soldiers can serve their army service together as a social unit and are placed on a kibbutz for their army leaves.
More than 2,500 North American and British olim are expected to arrive in Israel this summer.
