Kadima leader Tzipi Livni told 204 new olim, including 81 singles, she is married but not to worry because "matchmaking is Israel's national hobby." The final Nefesh B'Nefesh aliyah flight of summer touched down at approximately 7:00 a.m. Israel time and caps a record season in which the organization has brought 3,000 new Western immigrants to Israel. Livni, who heads the Opposition in the Knesset, told the newcomers, "There is no opposition when it comes to you. You are not alone. We need you; we love you; and we want you to be here and want you to be part of the Israeli family because aliyah is a basis of the State of Israel." Knesset Member Yaakov Katz, Jewish Agency Treasurer Hagai Merom and Senior Deputy Head of Aliyah at the Immigration and Absorption Ministry, Shifra Kirshenbaum, also welcomed Israel's newest citizens. Both co-founders of Nefesh B'Nefesh, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart, were on hand to welcome the new Israelis home. The planeload of immigrants comprises the 16th such aliyah flight to have been jointly organized by NBN and the Jewish Agency for Israel this summer. Founded in 2002, NBN has eased the way for some 23,000 new immigrants to make aliyah to Israel by removing or minimizing financial, professional, logistical and social obstacles that often come with the process. The vast majority -- 98 percent -- of the Western olim who come to Israel with NBN choose to remain and build vibrant new lives, each then reaching out to help the next through the organization's professional and social networks.
