In his first year as chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky presided over the biggest increase in aliyah in 10 years, as over 16,000 Jews moved to Israel in 2009, a 17 percent increase over the previous year.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was encouraged by this news, and continues to assist Jews coming home to Israel from all corners of the globe. This past autumn alone, the ICEJ helped over 300 Jews from Russia make the journey home on flights from St. Petersburg and Moscow. And in a new development, the Christian Embassy assisted 15 Swedish Jews to make aliyah last year, as concerns mount over anti-Semitism among radical Muslims in Sweden.

In late December, the Jewish Agency held a ceremony at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem to welcome flights of new immigrants who had just arrived in Israel. The olim (newcomers) included 85 Jews from South Africa, 75 from France, and 50 from the United Kingdom.

The ICEJ covered the overnight accommodations at the hotel for the South African arrivals so they could attend the welcome ceremonies and an Aliyah Fair to learn more about job opportunities, language classes, health care programs, opening bank accounts, and other information needed to ease the absorption process. Most of the newcomers were exhausted from the long journey but excited to receive their Israeli identity cards.

“It’s a wonderful day. We waited a long, long time for this document”, said Mandi Herman from Johannesburg. “We have children and grandchildren here in Israel, and we decided to spend our remaining years with them.”

“I feel that if it was not for the Christian Embassy we would not be here today”, said Sari Genzler of the Jewish Agency. “They give us a lot of support to help do all this for the olim, who have never had these opportunities before.”

The past two years, the ICEJ’s South African branch also made generous donations to sponsor Jews on aliyah flights from their country. The South African Jewish community has declined to approximately 75,000 today, and the increased wave of emigration is comprised of both "pull" factors – Zionist ideology and strong opportunities – and "push" factors – mainly economic and political developments that cause concern for the future of this country.

ICEJ-South Africa also joined other national branches in assisting with funds to pay for aliyah flights from Belarus and the Baltic countries, areas where much of South Africa’s current Jewish community originated. Jewish emigration from this region of the former Soviet Union is increasing because of the repressive regime in Belarus and the acute economic crisis in Latvia and Lithuania, and the ICEJ is stepping in to help the Jewish Agency respond.

For 2010, the ICEJ currently has plans to sponsor seats on more than a dozen aliyah flight departing from a wide variety of locations, including Britain, France, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, South Africa, and of course areas of the former Soviet Union.

To make a donation to sponsor the return of Jewish people to the land of their forefathers, please go to https://www.icej.org/donate.php and make sure to mark the box for "Aliyah and Absorption."

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