- (AP) -- Hundreds of North American Jews immigrated to
Israel on Wednesday, the second such single-day mass immigration in the
past month.
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- The recent arrivals mark what Israel hopes will be a
revival of immigration from the West, which dropped sharply after Israeli-Palestinian
violence escalated four years ago and the Israeli economy plummeted.
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- The group was brought to Israel by the Nefesh B'Nefesh,
"Jewish Souls United Group," working with the Jewish Agency and
the Israeli government. Offering financial support and planning, the program
set a target of bringing 1,500 U.S. and Canadian Jews to Israel before
the end of the summer.
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- The newcomers were greeted by Trade and Industry Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a welcoming ceremony in a decorated
airplane hangar.
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- Daniel Farahan, a 22-year-old political science graduate
from Indiana blew a shofar and kissed the tarmac as he disembarked from
the El Al flight from New York.
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- "The security situation worries us," said Mark
Rothenstein, a stockbroker from New Jersey who arrived with his wife and
three daughters. But he said he was encouraged that the frequency of Palestinian
attacks inside Israel had fallen.
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- "Worldwide it seems like the lines have been drawn,"
said David Miller, a lawyer from Denver, who arrived with his family and
small dog. "Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise, and I think Israel
needs new blood and new faces."
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- Three weeks ago, the same organization brought 500 immigrants
from North America. It expects another planeload of immigrants next week.
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- Separately, 200 French Jews immigrated to Israel last
week, many of them complaining of rising anti-Semitism in France. American
Jews have not been similarly threatened.
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- Israeli government statistics show the number of new
immigrants dropped by nearly two-thirds between the years 2000 and 2003,
to less than 25,000 compared with 61,000.
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