MONTREAL — The global economy, drastic cuts to the Jewish Agency for Israel’s (JAFI) budget and the online age converged last month to force the closure of the Montreal Aliyah Centre, one of several in North America slated to shut down by the summer as part of a “major restructuring” within JAFI.

But although the move – effective at the end of January – was to some extent anticipated, it came as a sad blow to those associated with the centre, which was almost as old as the State of Israel itself. They now fear that the absence of people “on the ground” could hurt the level of aliyah from Montreal.

“For 60 years, there was an aliyah presence here,” said Arlazar Eliashiv, president of the Canadian Zionist Federation’s eastern region. “The decision was based on the size of the community. I’m very disappointed.”

Even Israel’s consul general in Montreal, Yoram Elron, called the closure “unfortunate,” necessitated as it was by cost-cutting demands within JAFI.

In contrast, while in general regretting the closure of the Montreal centre, JAFI people outside Montreal, as well as officials from Nefesh B’Nefesh, the seven-year-old U.S.-based organization that provides aliyah services and financial support for virtually all North American olim, saw the move as a positive development overall.

The Jewish Agency will, both online and through its emissaries, continue to accept applications, maintain the sole right to determine eligibility for aliyah under Israel’s Law of Return and work with Nefesh B’Nefesh on immigrant processing.

The idea, both JAFI and Nefesh B’Nefesh officials said, is to eliminate overlapping functions while consolidating existing ones and bringing the aliyah process more into the modern age, in which initial applications are only computer keystrokes away.

“I’m optimistic,” said Liane Sela, now in her third year as JAFI’s emissary (shaliach) in Toronto, the only remaining Canadian city to have an aliyah centre. “More and more people are doing this online, and I also handle aliyah in other cities without shlichim, such as Winnipeg and Vancouver, where the aliyah number has doubled.

“I see no reason for the numbers to go down [in Montreal].”

According to Jacob Dallal, JAFI’s New York City-based director of public relations for North America, a partnership agreement with Nefesh B’Nefesh came into effect at the beginning of January, even before the closure of the Montreal centre was officially announced at the end of last month. It aims to distinguish and consolidate the functions of the two agencies.

“The problem was that it’s been redundant to have two aliyah entities,” he told The CJN. “There have actually been two parallel developments: the agreement [that will continue to see JAFI handle eligibility], and the budgetary constraints.”

Those constraints saw JAFI’s budget slashed by some $45 million, Dallal said, forcing the closure of several aliyah centres, including one in Philadelphia already. In the summer, centres in Boston, San Francisco and Washington are also due to close.

Ironically, perhaps, the Montreal aliyah centre sent, per capita, impressive numbers of olim to Israel in 2008 – 140, according to Naomi Holzer, an Israeli national living in Montreal who served as the centre’s last shaliach. (Nefesh B’Nefesh was also involved in helping most of those olim.)

“It’s a small community here, but we sent a lot,” she said.

Holzer described the centre’s closure as a “real, real pity, but they had no chance to do anything else. They really had no money.”

Holzer fears that the centre’s closure could also have a negative impact on the level of aliyah by seniors, who possess fewer computer skills, and by French-speakers, who comprised as many as half of the olim from Montreal.

Those issues, according to Danny Oberman, Nefesh B’Nefesh’s executive vice-president of Israel operations, are being addressed.

JAFI’s foreign press spokesperson, Michael Jankelowitz, noted in an e-mail that the agency’s global call centre – at 1-866-421-8912 – and website – www.jewishagency.org – handle questions in both English and French.

Oberman said Nefesh B’Nefesh was in the process of formulating a French-language aliyah application, noting that for those less adept at using computers, Nefesh B’Nefesh also has a worldwide toll-free number, 1-866-4ALIYAH (1-866-425-4924). Its website address is www.nbn.org.il.

One major advantage of olim working with Nefesh B’Nefesh, Oberman said, is that it offers “continuity of contact” with its people throughout the entire aliyah process, from the time they apply to the often-challenging time of adapting to their new land, including finding housing, jobs and financial support.

On the other hand, Ronnie Ollo, the director of the Israel Program Centre – which was part of the aliyah centre and thus also shut down by the budget cuts – was less confident that the aliyah process in Montreal would work as well as before.

Besides the issue of prospective olim no longer having a local office to go to, Ollo said the program centre sent many young Montrealers to Israel annually on a myriad of trips, ranging from short-term summer stays and a very popular Magen David Adom volunteer program to professional internships, some of which, he is sure, resulted in fostering new olim.

Moreover, “people who used the centre had a thousand and one questions. The new online system has no person on the ground. And you really need a permanent presence on the ground,” Ollo said.

“The system wasn’t perfect, but it’s better than what will happen now.”

JAFI’s Dallal disagreed. He said Israel travel programs related to aliyah would continue to run through JAFI’s aliyah department, while others would be taken over by JAFI’s education department or by the MASA department for long-term programs.

Both Dallal and Oberman of Nefesh B’Nefesh said that Sela and a Nefesh B’Nefesh representative will visit Montreal up to several times each month to conduct interviews and address the many questions prospective olim have.

Sela said she would travel to Montreal from Toronto as often as necessary, even if a Nefesh B’Nefesh rep could not be present. “If I have to, I will,” she said.