JPost: Nefesh B’Nefesh – Jewish Agency rift back on

The Jewish Agency has had a busy day in the pages of the Jerusalem Post. The JPost is reporting that a longtime rift between the Jewish Agency, which has been charged with alliyah into Israel for the past hundred years, and the upstart Nefesh B’Nefesh, has been stoked again. Last year, the two groups agreed […]

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The Jewish Agency has had a busy day in the pages of the Jerusalem Post.

The JPost is reporting that a longtime rift between the Jewish Agency, which has been charged with alliyah into Israel for the past hundred years, and the upstart Nefesh B’Nefesh, has been stoked again.

Last year, the two groups agreed on a collaboration by which the American-based NBN would oversee the marketing of alliyah in North America and much of the recruitment of new immigrants into Israel, while the Jewish Agency would maintain the back-office responsibilities of brining in new immigrants.

But apparently the Jewish Agency is bristling now as it feels NBN is delegitimzing the importance of immigrants from other parts of the world, which the Jewish Agency says that NBN has done through a new report on the amount of money that American olim add to Israel’s GDP.

Haviv Rettig says that more fighting is a lose-lose proposition for both parties.

The Agency’s new chairman, Natan Sharansky also got some press in this story about his desire to turn the Agency into one devoted to Jewish identity.

 

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