Iton Gadol January 1, 2010
Iton Gadol, the Jewish community newspaper in Argentina, reported that the economic crisis has forced the Jewish community to reevaluate the threatening situation and think about emigration to Israel. Sammy Eppel mentioned that the crisis "will impact the Jewish Community", both economically and socially. The bank crisis, the energy crisis and the political anxiety that lives in Venezuela is increasing on a day to day basis. Eppel affirmed that "everyone is suffering the same issues" not just the Venezuelans. Eppel says that this may influence aliyah numbers, "A problematic situation of this type brings as a consequence people searching for a plan B, but up until this moment they had not executed it because they thought the situation would change", which clearly it has not. Eppel said it was difficult to come up with numbers of those making aliyah, since the crisis has only been occurring for about a month, yet he definitely thinks the numbers will rise. Although ties were cut off between Venezuela and Israel, the Canadian Embassy is assisting those who wish to make Aliyah. Eppel mentioned again that this is a national problem that does not only affects the Jews, and he is awaiting to see what social consequences this emigration will have.
The economic crisis has served as a trigger to convince people to leave Venezuela. The community is starting to realize that there is not much future for them there and are therefore starting to leave in large numbers. It will be interesting to see if the numbers of Aliyah from Venezuela actually rise, since from what I know most people are making their way to America. If there is a large emigration flux to Israel it will be intriguing to see how the community establishes themselves here. Either way, the Jewish community has made the realization that the situation is grave and they must leave.
Link to Original Article: http://www.itongadol.com.ar/shop/detallenot.asp?notid=28728
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