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KNESSET COMMITTEE FOR ALIYA, ABSORPTION AND DIASPORA, HAS INVITED FRESHLY LANDED OLIM FROM ARGENTINA TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION IN THE COMMUNITY Meridor: "We will enlist the help of top Israelis and veteran olim from Argentina in order to encourage the Jews to make aliyah"; Chesler: "We will not limit the budget for the aliyah and absorption of olim from Argentina"
 Olim from Argentina pose with Ariye Azulay, Chairman of the Jewish Agency Aliyah Committee, at the reception at Ben Gurion Airport Two of the first families of Argentinean olim who arrived this week due to the crisis, attended a special session of the Knesset Aliyah and Absorption Committee yesterday to discuss the crisis affecting the Jewish community in Argentina. "I've been unemployed for a year. We had no future in Argentina and there's a lot of assimilation. I attended a Jewish school, but my children did not. We want to be Israelis", said George Leibowitz, father of three, who to everyone's amazement spoke good Hebrew. Monica Nisselbaum, also speaking in Hebrew, added: "A lot of Jews want to make aliyah. They are worried about the language and becoming acclimatized in Israel, but they are not frightened by the security situation. It's not safe in Argentina either". The families belong to a group of 63 olim from Argentina who arrived in Israel this week. This is the first group of olim to arrive since the disturbances began in Argentina in the wake of the country's depening economic crisis. Most of the olim were taken to Jewish Agency absorption centers in Ra'anana, Be'er Sheva and Kiryat Yam. They were welcomed at the airport by Deputy Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein and Jewish Agency Aliyah Committee Chair Aryeh Azoulay. In addition, 40 youngsters arrived this week from Buenos Aires to join the Na'aleh program and 25 Jews came on a trial visit to examine absorption opportunities first-hand. During a special session of the Knesset, Zvi Handel, Chairman of the Committee for Aliya, praised the the mobilization of the government and the Jewish Agency in view of the crisis in Argentina and expressed hope that at least 50,000 of the 200,000 Jews living in Argentina will make aliyah in the near future. Jewish Agency Chairman, Sallai Meridor reported to the Committee on items agreed upon with the Prime Minister as necessary to encourage aliyah from Argentina. He said that any single students making aliyah would receive $1000 as an acclimatization grant. "I intend to enlist the help of the veteran olim and those who have arrived recently, municipal leaders and others, in order to go to Argentina and encourage the Jews there to come to Israel", summarized Meridor. He himself set out at the head of a special delegation which will launch the campaign. At the meeting, Jewish Agency Treasurer Chaim Chesler stated that the Jewish people will allocate any sum necessary to bring and absorbe Jews from Argentina: "This resolution was passed by all Jewish Agency leaders around the world - we must utilize this window of opportunity for aliyah, before it closes".
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