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Israel Prepares to Take in Jews Fleeing Argentina
TEL
AVIV, Dec. 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel prepared Sunday to take in Jews from Argentina fleeing the country's economic woes, which have hit them especially hard, a spokesman for the government body handling immigration said, news agencies reported.
"The chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor, has called an emergency meeting in Jerusalem, with representatives of ministries dealing with immigration and the integration of new immigrants," Yehuda Weinraub said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"We are expecting a very sharp increase in immigration from Argentina, because the economic situation of the Jewish community there has worsened severely," he added.
Nearly half of Argentina's 200,000 Jews, "notably traders, intellectuals and civil servants, have become the 'new poor,' affected by unemployment," Winraub added.
Argentine President Fernando de la Rua resigned last week after bloody riots in the midst of an economic meltdown, raising fears the country would be forced into declaring a record default on its $132 billion debt.
"We have a team of 18 envoys and some 50 local employees, working 24 hours a day, mainly in Buenos Aires where some 80% of the Jews live," Weinraub said, AFP reported.
He added that Meridor had asked the Israeli government, itself facing an economic crisis, to include special provisions for immigrants from Argentina in the 2002 budget currently going through parliament.
This year, some 1,500 Argentinean Jews exercised their right to settle in Israel, 30% higher than in 2000, and 6,000 more began the formalities for immigration, according to the Jewish Agency.
According to Israel's Ha'aretz daily newspaper, during this year, there was a sharp increase in the number of Argentineans settling in Israel, amounting to 1,500 compared to 1,200 last year.
Another 6,000 Jews have gone to Jewish Agency offices in Argentina over the past year to inquire about immigration possibilities,
Ha'aretz reported.
Israeli National Religious Party MK Zvi Hendel, head of the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee, is seeking to win the prime minister's approval for a "national operation" to attract the 200,000-strong Argentine Jewish community,
Ha'aretz reported Sunday.
No fewer than 1,700 Jewish families are homeless and deprived, living in Buenos Aires flop-houses, while the Jewish community is giving charitable aid to nearly 10% of its members, AFP reported.
The economic crisis had split families, and there are many single-parent families, the daily added.
According to Israeli media, since 1989, four major Jewish banks that funded synagogues, social work and, especially, schools in Argentina, have collapsed.
The number of schools has shrunk from 35 with 20,000 pupils three years ago, to 20 with 15,000 on the rolls, today. As a result, dozens of teachers have found themselves out of work.
Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon aims to attract a million more immigrants to Israel, and sees Argentina as a major source.
Israel has some 6.5 million inhabitants, 82% of them Jews, and representing 38% of world Jewish population, according to official statistics. This year some 45,000 newcomers arrived, mainly from former Soviet republics of Eastern Europe.
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