BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel - Forty Jewish immigrants from Iran secretly flew to Israel on Tuesday, the largest such influx from the Islamic Republic as a single group in recent years, an Israeli immigration official said. Precise details of how the immigrants travelled from Iran to Israel were barred for publication under IsraelÂ’s censorship rules for security matters.The new arrivals were welcomed in a ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport after arriving on a flight from a transit country which was not named due to censorship. Family members already in Israel gathered to welcome their relatives, who were offered $10,000 each by a Christian and Jewish fellowship to make the move, the official said.
The official from the Jewish Agency, one of IsraelÂ’s main organisations which helps bring Jews to the country, said the newcomers abandoned their property and possessions in Iran and left without announcing their intended final destination. The official said most of the new arrivals had come from Teheran.
Israel is home to tens of thousands of Iranian immigrants, many of whom maintain discreet ties with relatives in their native land despite almost three decades of cold war-style hostility between the Islamic republic and the Jewish state. More than 200 Iranians have moved to Israel in 2007, up from 65 in the previous year.