2013 North American aliya higher than first thought

Figures indicating 11 percent drop in aliya from North America in 2013 were incorrect.

By SAM SOKOL
Aliya (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Aliya
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Official figures indicating an 11 percent drop in aliya from North America in 2013 were incorrect, the Aliya and Immigrant Absorption Ministry and the Jewish Agency announced this week.
In a statement, the two bodies indicated that there was a “discrepancy” in the “projection” they presented to the press in December and in the numbers as they stand now.
Initially, they reported that 3,000 immigrants arrived from the United States and Canada, down from 3,389 the previous year.
Nefesh B’Nefesh, the private organization to which Israel has outsourced much of its aliya operations in the US and Canada, disputed the official figures at the time and provided this newspaper with different numbers.
“As of last week, Nefesh B’Nefesh has brought 3,400 olim from North America to Israel in 2013,” an NBN representative told The Jerusalem Post in December. “This number has pretty much remained the same as the previous year of 2012.”
A total of 3,504 immigrants came from the US and Canada in 2013, according to the revised figures provided by the Jewish Agency and the Absorption Ministry; 3,108 of them are American while 396 come from Canada.
The new numbers indicate a slight increase in North American immigration.
“We are continuing our Zionistic efforts to encourage aliya to Israel, in conjunction with the Ministry of Aliya and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and look forward to continuing to build a stronger Israel by increasing North American aliya,” Nefesh B’Nefesh President Tony Gelbart said.