Plans to establish a new beit oleh (immigrant house) in Tel Aviv are underway, with the new facility aiming to make life for olim chadashim (new immigrants) easier by giving them a place where they can go work, relax, and integrate with local Israelis, Tel Aviv-Yafo Vice-Mayor Guy Avner told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
“I'm actually working very hard now on opening a beit oleh, which will house all the different olim hadashim,” Avner said, adding that it will be “a place where they can come and work, have Shabbat dinners, celebrate the holidays, receive lectures, do shows, have parties, and organize.”
Avner was recently appointed to his role as vice mayor and holds the social services and immigrant absorption portfolios, a position that carries significant influence over the 25,000 olim chadashim who live in Tel Aviv.
Among those Avner says he aims to serve with the new beit oleh are lone soldiers, enlisted IDF troops who don’t have immediate family in Israel. Many lone soldiers are, themselves, olim.
“The most important factor is integrating with Israelis,” he continued. “So, we would like all the Israelis in the neighborhood who will come there to have a nice cafeteria, maybe a small pool. That's what I envision, and that's what we're working on.”
Avner’s push to establish the beit oleh is part of the municipality's broader efforts to support the olim who live there.
Tel Aviv vice mayor: We try to do everything we can to keep olim here
“We try here in the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, to do everything we can to keep [olim] here, to make their lives better, to enrich their lives, to help them with all their needs concerning making aliyah,” he added.
Avner spoke to the Post at an event called shuk olim (immigrant’s market) in downtown Tel Aviv. The event featured stalls where immigrant small-business owners could gain public exposure and sell their goods.
The shuk olim event was organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh, the primary nonprofit organization that facilitates immigration to Israel, and was held in partnership with the Tel Aviv municipality.
Avner pointed to employment as “a basis” for immigrant integration into Israel and said that the municipality is actively engaged in helping olim find work.
“We do a lot of networking sessions, and we bring in employers,” Avner said. “We try to take the virtues of olim and make it happen for them. They're intellectual, they come from different disciplines, and we're really trying to make employment a big issue and help them with that.”