200 New Immigrants on Final Nefesh B'Nefesh Flight in 2007 by Hana Levi Julian Deceber 27, 2007 http://www.israelnationalnews.com Some 200 new immigrants stepped on to the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport Thursday morning, greeted by the usual festivities and fanfare that accompanies every Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) Aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) flight. This planeload of immigrants from the United States was the final of a year that saw more than 3,000 new Israeli citizens arrive from North America and the UK on the wings of the NBN Aliyah assistance organization. The numbers reflect an 86 percent increase in North American immigration since 2006, and a 52 percent increase in immigration from the UK. Overall, North American Aliyah has skyrocketed from 3 percent of total immigration to Israel in 2000 to more than 16 percent this year. Nefesh B'Nefesh has been largely responsible. Nonetheless, NBN co-chairman Danny Ayalon was not satisfied, telling reporters at the airport Thursday morning, "Sadly, we cannot bring more immigrants to Israel due to budgetary constraints." He said that some 20,000 applicants to the organization have been turned away or delayed due to the organization’s financial limitations. The comment reflects a power struggle that took place this past year over government funding for recruitment and settlement assistance for new immigrants. NBN and the French Ami organization successfully competed with the semi-governmental Jewish Agency for Israel to expand allocations of state funding for Aliyah to include non-government organizations. Most new immigrants from the US, Canada, Britain and France made Aliyah through the facilitation of the two groups. Prospects for continued success are even brighter for the coming year, with a 200 percent increase in the government budget for aliyah next year announced in October by Immigration Minister Ya'akov Edry (Kadima), totalling 3 million shekels ($750,000).