US Immigrants Arrive to Songs, Flags, Promises by Melissa Radler July 9, 2003 Jerusalem Post Hundreds of American immigrants to Israel were greeted this morning to their new homeland after an all-night flight by Israeli flags, Hebrew songs and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who pledged greater resources to funding North American immigration. "The government that I lead decided that aliyah is the first priority and it's the most important thing," Sharon said. "I know it's not an easy thing, to move from one country to another country, but here you are coming home." Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the group it was not just rebuilding its homes, but "rebuilding our national home." The group, organized by the organization Nefesh B' Nefesh ("Jewish Souls United"), comprised 318 North American Jews from 22 US states and three Canadian provinces. An additional 300 immigrants are scheduled to arrive in Israel with the organization on July 23. Nefesh B'Nefesh co-founder Tony Gelbart said the organization aims to bring 100,000 American and Canadian Jews to Israel within the next five years. He called on the government and Jewish Agency to focus on "voluntary aliyah" from North America in addition to "rescue aliyah" from regions with Jewish communities in distress. "The national vision must be a road map for aliyah, and it must be addressed with the same vigor as the road map to peace," said Gelbart. In the welcoming ceremony, along with the dignitaries, the Efrat boys choir performed a medley of Jewish tunes, and Immigration Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni presented the group's first Israeli identification cards to a family of six from Queens. Accepting his first official documents as an Israeli citizen, Guy Mayer, a doctor and father of four young children, recalled his family's history from the ghettos of Europe in the 1940s to the Jewish state today. "My father was a Holocaust survivor. Sixty years ago he wore a yellow star," Mayer said. "Now, I carry a tehudat zehut (identification card) in my homeland."