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Honorable Mayor, my friend the veteran Mayor in Israel: Tzvi Tzilker,
Minister of Immigrant Absorption, my friend Minister Yaakov Edri,
Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency and of the World Zionist Organization, Zeev Bielski,
Prof. Moshe Kaveh, President of Bar-Ilan University, Chairman of the Board of Presidents of the Universities of Israel (I hope that this school year will commence without incident),
My friend, Director General of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, Erez Chalfon,
Mr. Boris Giterman, member of the Ashdod City Council,
Mr. Vladimir Gershov, Chairman of the Conference Steering Committee,
Dr. Yechiel Lasri, former MK and current Deputy Mayor,
My friend, Yair Tzaban, former Minister of Immigrant Absorption,
Mrs. Mira Gal, former Director General, Ministry of Immigrant Absorption,
And last but not least, Mr. Shimon Katznelson, who was Acting Mayor and is Chairman of Pais,
My friends, Members of Knesset,
Heads of Organizations,
Distinguished Guests,
In January 2005, the disappearance of Gabriel Dwait was reported. He was a young man from Beer Sheva, the son of a family of Ethiopian immigrants. The State of Israel together with other organizations, made several efforts to locate him, including appealing to Interpol and foreign countries.
During these past months, in negotiations being conducted through the UN for the return of our kidnapped soldiers, Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, we were informed that Hezbollah is in possession of the body of Gabriel z"l. In the past weeks an opportunity arose to bring Gabriel back home, as part of the negotiations to bring back the kidnapped soldiers. Yesterday, with the identification of the body, the three year mystery was solved. The question marks were sadly removed, and the Dwait family will have a headstone over which to mourn, and a grave to visit. This is the kind of commitment that the State of Israel demonstrates to its citizens, and among them of course, the immigrant population of which we are so proud.
Of last night's action I will only add that for years our enemies have been trying to raise the price that Israel pays for snippets of information, more-so for the return of kidnapped soldiers and citizens, or, G-d forbid, bodies. It is a despicable and cynical trade in the emotions and sensitivities of the Israeli people. Often we have no alternative but to pay a painful price, but I believe that yesterday's action was accomplished in a balanced way and at a price that the State of Israel can accept.
Distinguished Guests,
Allow me to turn from the painful and emotional subject of our soldiers and sons, to the matter for which we are gathered today: Aliyah. Before speaking of the reason why we are gathered here, I must address another issue which your Mayor and I have been attending to for some time – even before some people displayed signs to greet my arrival.
For some time now, Tzvi Tzilker has been constantly reminding me of the subject of the hospital. I am pleased to inform you that yesterday the Tender Committee of the Ministry of Finance approved the documents upon which the tender for the hospital will be based. I hope that this process will move swiftly so that it will be possible to build the hospital in Ashdod that we all wish for. Incidentally, I have no doubt that once the hospital is built, it will be staffed by many new immigrant doctors and nurses.
Ladies and Gentlemen, residents of Ashdod, guests , Olim Hadashim and Veteran Israelis,
No language in the world has a word that encompasses the full significance that the word "Aliyah" has for us, Jews and Israelis. We do not speak of Israel in terms of immigration to, or moving to, but as Aliyah: 'ascending'. In Aliyah, there is always an aspect of difficulty because La'alot is to climb, but more than anything there is satisfaction in reaching the top. A climb to our summit as Jews, to our summit as a people who throughout our history, and in all our prayers, longed to return home. And that is why its meaning is so profound and different than moving from one country to another.
Israel is unique among other countries in its willingness to absorb more and more citizens. No other country has contended with so many new immigrants, who came and were absorbed. We are a country whose "strength is in its immigrants", even if we do not always know how to translate our good will to an effective "embrace" of absorption and dialog.
Try, ladies and gentlemen of the veteran Israelis, to close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you have arrived in a land – which you've dreamed of and yearned for, for a long time – but you do not know the language, the ways of the people, and that income and tranquility is something that you still need to attain. This is how approximately 20,000 new immigrants feel each year as they arrive at the "gates" of the State. In order to assist them we have Absorption Centers for temporary residence, Ulpanim for teaching the Hebrew language, support packages to help sustain the families; most of all we need a lot of good will from each and every resident here, to help in the absorption of a person or family into the Israeli fold.
From the very first days of this country, the question of Aliyah kept its leaders busy. Among the very first laws that the young Nation passed was the Law of Return (1950), which bestows on every Jew the right to return to Israel; and the Citizenship Law complements it, providing immediate citizenship to every Oleh who arrives in Israel on the basis of the Law of Return. There is nothing like this in the entire world. Many countries scrutinize all applicants for residence – their financial status, their professions, and possible employment. We are not like that. The State of Israel does not search through the pockets of those who come to its gates. It welcomes them with a blessing. Always.
From its first days the State of Israel absorbed a constant stream of immigrants; they integrated into the State, built it, and prepared it for the absorption of many more immigrants. Throughout the years, Israel has attained great achievements in the immigration and absorption spheres. And here we must say some words in praise of the Jewish Agency, who throughout the history of the State of Israel contributed, acted, encouraged, inspired, and amassed resources in order to bring immigrants to Israel. We must also thank the Immigrant Absorption Office, which for many years spearheaded the collective effort of the State of Israel to transform the absorption of new immigrants into a more caring, pleasant, loving, and warm experience. Thank you Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Yaakov Edri, those who came before you and those who work with you with great sacrifice and great love.
Over the years we have absorbed millions of Jews from 102 countries, speaking 82 languages. No other country has ever absorbed so many people in such a short time. On the founding of the State, the Jewish settlement comprised about 700,000 people. Today, more than six million Jews live in the State of Israel. No other country has increased the number of its citizens almost tenfold in 60 short years.
One of the largest growth rates occurred in the 90's when we absorbed more than a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They are today an integral part of the cultural, economic, military and academic strength of the State of Israel. This wave of immigrants brought about 100,000 engineers. Ladies and gentleman, the State of Israel has more engineers per population than any other nation in the world and therefore, in relative terms, we are a larger hi-tech super-power than any other nation in the world, and in absolute terms, almost the largest hi-tech super-power in the world. 15,000 medical practitioners arrived; 20,000 authors, artists, and musicians who contributed greatly to the quality of life in the State of Israel.
But not just immigrants from the former USSR were absorbed here. The State of Israel has had the honor of absorbing residents that have come from North and South America, from France (as you know full well here in Ashdod) and Romania, Morocco and Tunis, Ethiopia and Yemen. There is almost no place on the face of the earth from which a Jew did not come – wanting to transform the dreams of his forefathers into a reality – by immigrating to Israel.
We will not deny or hide the fact that contending with the absorption of tens of thousands of immigrants per year is not easy. The State directs vast resources and effort in order to help those struggling with integration. We do this with love, and the awareness of the supreme value of immigrant absorption.
The State of Israel will continue to serve its purpose of providing a refuge to any persecuted or needy Jew, and to take in any Jewish community that is in distress. But our call to all communities of Israel world-wide to make Aliyah, should not play on sentiments of fear and anxiety.
We see the Jews of the Diaspora first and foremost as a community of brothers – of individuals with the freedom to move to any country they choose, but we wish they will come and live here, because this is their country; no other country is better or more deserving or more appealing in the entire world. The State of Israel – steadfast, strong and secure, not just advanced, open and enlightened, but also an ethical Jewish State, a State of quality – in our lives, in our Government, and in our mannerisms – will be appealing to the Jews of the Diaspora and promise the continued immigration, making it into a mass-movement.
Who knows better than you, ladies and gentlemen of the city of Ashdod, of the difficulties, but also the satisfaction, that there is in absorbing these new immigrants. 34% of the residents of this city, that has about 225,000 residents, are new immigrants. In the streets of Ashdod one can hear a multitude of languages, and smell the aroma of a large assortment of dishes, representing an almost infinite number of places, cultures, and memories, that have all gathered here. Ashdod is a true melting pot, which succeeds in creating a new type of Israeli, from whom we can hear Hebrew in many different intonations.
In your honor, veteran residents of Ashdod, who came to us from Morocco, I wish to finish with a short and emotional story from the days of the mass immigration of Moroccan Jews. It was an Aliyah that was characterized by awe inspiring sights; Jews from the big cities or the remote villages, who, when the call came, left everything behind – house, property, profession, and status – and were ready to go in a matter of hours. As if for hundreds of years they have been "sitting on their luggage", waiting for that signal, to stand up and come to Zion.
One day, two Aliyah envoys came to a small village in southern Morocco, and told the people of the village that they come to take them to the Land. In a matter of hours the whole village was ready to leave, but a moment before leaving the village leader told the envoys: "Before leaving we want to go to our cemetery. We need to ask for forgiveness from those that will never have the privilege to come with us, especially from the sacred Rabbi whose coffin we are leaving here. He kept promising that there will come a day when we will be privileged to go to the land of Israel."
And so all the villagers went to the cemetery, and the leader of the community started to pray over the grave of the Rabbi. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he turned to his people and said: "We can leave now. The Rabbi's spirit is already there, in the land of Israel."
They came, and many after them, a multitude of people from many different countries over the years. Now this is their home, and we are all dedicated to making them feel that this is the best home for them and for us.
Thank you all.
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