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The village is lively every day, all days of the year, with hundreds participating in the many activities that take place in it. It would seem that the vision of the Jewish Agency's people way back in the Eighties was fulfilled beyond their dreams.
After the passing of Aryeh Lova Eliav in 2010, the village was renamed in his honor.
From Ethiopia to Kosovo
In the Eighties and Nineties, the Jewish Agency turned its gaze southward as well, to Ethiopia. Over a decade, two large Aliya operations from this country were conducted – "Operation Moses" and "Operation Solomon." Every now and then, the Agency would deviate from its customary activities and operate on global issues. That was the case in 1999, when the fighting in the Kosovo Region (the former Yugoslavia) worsened and the Serbs expelled hundreds of thousands of Albanians and demolished their homes.
The world rushed to help. The Albanian refugees concentrated in refugee camps that were set up in nearby Macedonia. The Jewish Agency, together with Keren Hayesod, offered their assistance and in April 1999, an airlift departed from Israel, which included eight cargo planes loaded with food, water, tents, medical equipment and more.
Dror Marom, a reporter for "Globes" reported on April 18 from Albania, that the cost of the operations reach millions of dollars. In addition to the flights and purchase of equipment, the Agency set up in an Albanian airport a center for distributing the equipment for the many sites in which Kosovo refugees were concentrated. Marom specified what the aid cargo included: Milk, baby food, knapsacks, tents, mineral water, sweets for children and blankets.
The aid from the Agency and Keren Hayesod did not end there. The final plane that brought the aid brought back to Israel 104 refugees from Kosovo, whose arrival was authorized by the Israeli Government. The Agency housed them in the field school at Ma'agan Michael. The entire operation garnered much attention in Israel and the world.
From Jerusalem to Buenos Aires
This is the second century of KKL-JNF's operations (founded in 1901). It was the first to build its wing in the National Institutions Building, from which the guidelines for its operations in Israel and throughout the Jewish World have been issued all these years. Three random examples from late 2011 can attest to its diverse activity:
On September 11 of that year, KKL-JNF held the central memorial ceremony in Israel for the World Trade Center Attack. Marking the tenth anniversary of that horrific event. The ceremony was held on the foot of the memorial monument erected by KKL-JNF in Emek ha-Arazim near Jerusalem.
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