South Africans Make Aliyah at Western Wall

Article on Arutz Sheva Aprill 22, 2009
By Hillel Fendel

Over 85 new immigrants of all ages from South Africa and Zimbabwe arriving in Israel today (Wednesday) will receive their citizenship at a unique group ceremony at the Western Wall on Thursday.

The arrival of the Jewish Agency flight at Ben Gurion International Airport will contribute to the increasing Aliyah numbers from South Africa. Some 340 Jews moved to Israel from the country in 2008, twice as many as in the year before. This flight is the third one bringing South African Jews this year.

South African Jews at Western Wall

The Jewish Agency will hold a special Absorption Day for the new Israelis at the Shalom Hotel in Jerusalem's Bayit V’gan neighborhood on Thursday morning. Representatives of various government and important offices, such as the National Insurance Institute, the health funds, phone companies, the Ministry of Absorption, and others, will be on hand.

At 4 p.m, the new immigrants will receive their ID cards in a unique ceremony at the Western Wall. Such cards are usually granted without fanfare in an Absorption Ministry office.

On hand for the occasion will be Jewish Agency Treasurer and former Meretz MK Haggai Merom, South African Jewry lay-leader Mendel Kaplan, and representatives of the Friendship Fund.

Some 65,000 Jews still live in South Africa, including 45,000 in Johannesburg and 15,000 in Capetown. Some 21,000 South African Jews have made Aliyah since the inception of the State of Israel.