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New olim arrive in Israel (Archive photo)
Photo: Moran Zelikovich

Jewish Agency envoy suspected he helped non-Jews make aliya

Emissary to South America arrested on suspicion he provided Venezuelan aliya candidates with permits to immigrate to Israel although he knew their conversion process was dubious

The Immigration Administration arrested on Tuesday a Jewish Agency envoy to South America on suspicion that over the years he facilitated the immigration to Israel of dozens of non-Jewish Venezuelan citizens.

 

According to suspicion, the emissary approved the applicants' immigration process while being aware of the fact that their conversion to Judaism was fictitious.

 

The man was arrested upon his arrival at the Ben Gurion Airport Tuesday night, and is scheduled to appear before a judge at the Ramla District Court Wednesday.

 

The suspect initially denied the allegations against him, but later confessed to the accusations. He told police that the rabbi who converted some of the Venezuelan aliya applicants indeed seemed to be "unreliable," and that the latter explained he wanted to complete the process quickly.

 

The undercover investigation against the envoy has been conducted for months, and was launched after Immigration Administration officials began suspecting that the immigrants he helped bring into the country had not properly converted.

 

It is believed that the envoy was motivated by his ambition to get a promotion based on the large number of people he helped bring into Israel, and that he also received money for each aliya permit he provided.

 

Conversion of hundreds in doubt

In order to make aliya, applicants abroad rely on a recommendation from the local Jewish Agency emissary, who provides such a recommendation only after verifying that the candidate is Jewish. Some 270 people have immigrated to Israel from Venezuela through the Jewish Agency in recent years, and authorities now fear that a large portion of them came to the country with the envoy's aid, without having properly converted.

 

Attorney Chief Inspector Menny Pashtizky, the Immigration Administration's legal advisor in the case, told Ynet: "According to suspicion, the man in question held false conversions in the town of San Cristobal, located between Venezuela and Colombia. The rabbi that signed the conversions is unrecognized, problematic and unreliable.

 

"The immigrants did not meet the Interior Ministry's fundamental requirement, to live one full year in their community before making aliya. He (the envoy) did all this out of a desire to be a good, outstanding emissary," Pashtizky explained.

 

The chief inspector added that "every immigrant who comes here receives an absorption package worth tens of thousands of shekels. We are talking about hundreds suspected to have undergone a false conversion."

 

Olim's citizenship might be revoked

The Jewish Agency responded to the arrest by saying, "The agency has always been committed to ensuring the legal and proper process of immigration to Israel. Therefore, the agency immediately agreed to help the police, and also had one of its envoys especially flown into Israel for the investigation.

 

"The agency hopes that the suspicions will be proved false, and that the envoy can reassume his post as soon as possible."

 

The Interior Ministry said that if the investigation indeed reveals that some of the olim came to Israel using falsified permits, the ministry may consider revoking their citizenship.  

 

Yael Branovsky contributed to the report

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.13.08, 09:41
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