Help us fill an Aliyah ‘evacuation flight’ this month
By: David Parsons, ICEJ VP & Senior Spokesman

This week the ICEJ sponsored two more Aliyah flights from Russian-speaking countries, bringing another 66 Jewish immigrants home to Israel. We have now brought well over 1000 Jews to Israel on ‘evacuation flights’ over the past four months of the Corona crisis. And to build on this remarkable achievement, we are now calling on our Christian friends and supporters worldwide to join us in helping more Jews reach Israel safely through our “Rescue250” campaign.

The Rescue250 campaign is a challenge to Christian supporters of Israel around the globe to partner with the ICEJ is keeping up our current pace of flying at least 250 Jews per month home to Israel while the Coronavirus pandemic is still severely impacting the world. This is both a prophetic mandate and a humanitarian mission, and we welcome your involvement in making this miracle happen. Learn more on how you can be a part of this urgent campaign at our Rescue250 central at: on.icej.org/rescue250

Each arriving family of late has their own inspiring story on how they came to make the move to Israel. One family which landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday this week included a seven year-old child in need of life-saving cancer treatments in Israel – and we will have more on that very touching story soon.

Meantime, the Veksler family just arrived from the far eastern part of Russia after spending years longing to come to Israel. But when they finally got ready for the big move, Corona hit, and what happened from there is very typical of the Jewish families we are helping right now.

Vitaly Veksler and his wife Valentine have three beautiful daughters – Sarah, Emma and Vita. They are from Khabarovsk, a city way over near Japan. Vitaly also has a sister, Svetlana, and young niece, Elizabeth, who lived in Vladivostok, also in the Russian Far East. The whole extended family of seven people decided last year to make Aliyah together, and originally planned to fly to Israel in May. But because of Corona, their flight was cancelled and they were left in limbo.

However, thanks to the determined efforts of Israeli and Jewish Agency officials, the chance arose for them to get on board a rescue flight, sponsored by the Christian Embassy.

“We are very grateful for this, and that on June 30 we will already be in Israel,” Vitaly assured.

“From my childhood, I knew about my Jewish roots and I was proud to be a part of a great nation,” he explained. “I thought about Aliyah for a very long time, but there was always something stopping me – either work or another child or building a house. But thoughts about Israel were always in my mind, and I searched a lot of information about Aliyah.”

Vitaly credits the Jewish Agency office in his hometown of Khabarovsk with playing a big role in the Aliyah of his family. “We got a lot of consultations there, participated in seminars, met online with people living in Israel,” he said.

Still, he has moved his family to a country that is completely new to them.

“The first two weeks in Israel we will be in quarantine,” Viltaly noted. “We have never been to Israel before, but after quarantine we really want to see the country and then hopefully settle down in Rehovot.”

There are many other Jewish families, like the Vekslers, who had planned to move to Israel over recent months, and even quit their jobs and cancelled their apartment leases already, but due to Corona they are stranded without home or finances.

In addition, the COVID-19 threat, along with rising antisemitism, has actually increased interest in making Aliyah among Jewish communities worldwide.

So Israel and the Jewish Agency are arranging “evacuation flights” to bring new immigrants approved for Aliyah, and is turning to the ICEJ for help with funding these flights. Priority is being given to those facing urgent health concerns, rising antisemitism, and poor socio-economic conditions.

The ICEJ flew 1,000 Jewish immigrants home to Israel between February and June, which is a remarkable rate of 250 olim (newcomers) per month during the Corona crisis. We are now challenging our friends and supporters to help us maintain that pace in the critical months ahead, when Aliyah is expected to increase.

So help us bring at least 250 Jews on Aliyah “rescue flights” to Israel in the coming month. Join us today at: on.icej.org/rescue250

And follow our progress in this urgent Aliyah campaign at the same Rescue250 central!