Global pandemic notwithstanding, over 20,000 Jews from 70 countries made aliyah over the course of 2020, the Jewish Agency reported this week as the year draws to a close.

With help from the aliyah and Integration Ministry, The Jewish Agency set up a special situation room to help bring the new olim to Israel as countries all over the world shut down air traffic because of the coronavirus crisis.

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The Jewish Agency expects the uptick in aliyah to continue even after the COVID pandemic begins to wane and that 250,000

new immigrants will move to Israel in the next three to five years.

The biggest numbers of new immigrants arrived from Russia, Ukraine, the US, and France. As of the end of November, 10,200 new olim had arrived from the former Soviet Union. Another 3,120 immigrants from western Europe, including 2,220 from France, also made aliyah this year. About 2,850 new olim arrived from North America, most of whom (2,550) hailed from the US.

Not only did immigrants continue to arrive throughout the year, but interest in aliyah spiked as COVID wreaked its havoc on economies and families. The Jewish Agency's situation room fielded some 160,000 inquiries about aliyah, and opened 41,000 new files for potential arrivals.

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog met Sunday with a group of child immigrants who arrived this year and said, "A wonderful thing happened to us − 20,000 Jews immigrated to the State of Israel during this pandemic year. 20,000 people who were ready to leave everything behind, in a challenging period of global turmoil, to come build a new life in Israel."

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Suzy met her mother, from whom she was separated more than 10 years ago, at the end of a long journey to bring her and her children to Israel that spanned four countries, directed by Binyamin resident Aharon Tsuf.

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A year and a half ago, Tsuf met with Suzy's mother and she told him that two of her daughters were in South Sudan and unable to leave the country. Thirty years ago, while she was making her way to Israel, the mother was kidnapped and taken to South Sudan. She and her other children returned to Ethiopia, but two of her daughters were forced to marry Sudanese men.

"I was touched by the story. I realized that if I didn't help this family, no one would," Tsuf said.

He proceeded to set the process of bringing Suzy and her children to Israel, a project that involved four different countries. At first, he enlisted Suzy's brother to help find her and her sister, which took until December 2018, when they traveled to Ethiopia.

"It was the first time they had seen their mother in 10 years," Tsuf said. He took care to bring the mother and one of her daughters to Israel, while Suzy went back to South Sudan to fetch her children.

"The sister and her children made aliyah in April and lived at my house until their mother joined them. Suzy and her children stayed behind," Tsuf explained.

He continued to tackle the logistic difficulties in bringing Suzy and her children to Israel.

"At the end of June, I fulfilled all the demands of the South Sudanese Interior Ministry, and with the help of the ambassadors, I brought them to Ethiopia. They waited there about 40 days, partly because Suzy had come down with malaria."

Assisted by donations from friends, Christians in Africa who support Israel, head of the Binyamin Regional Council Yisrael Gantz, and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Tsuf had the family recognized as part of the Jewish people. He then organized travel to Israel for Suzy and her children.

"It was hard to get here. In the end, she took an eight-day bus ride from South Sudan to Ethiopia via Uganda and Kenya. Halfway there, she got lost and went back. The project encountered a lot of difficulties. We're talking about countries that have no identity cards or good communications," Tsuf noted.

In total, it cost 120,000 shekels ($34,000) to bring Suzy and her children to Israel. Tsuf paid a third of the cost. "After an exhausting year and a half, this unbelievable moment has arrived. I'm tearing up," he said.

For the next few months, the new arrivals will live in an immigrant absorption center.

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