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Record year predicted for American aliyah

By · July 1, 2007

The Jewish Agency for Israel predicted a peak year for immigration from North America.

Immigration to Israel from the United States and Canada will increase between 5 and 10 percent this year, marking the highest rate in a quarter-century, the Jewish Agency said Sunday.

According to the agency, in recent years Reform and Conservative communities have become more active in promoting aliyah, a movement generally dominated by the Orthodox. The Jewish Agency, in turn, is trying to help Reform and Conservative immigrants find new homes in Israeli communities identified with their religious denominations.

“We are seeing a continued increase of olim of all religious streams and age groups,” said Boaz Herman, head of the Jewish Agency’s Aliyah Department in North America. Herman noted that 70 percent of immigrants from North America are younger than 35.

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