NBN’s Promotion of U.S. Citizen Migration To Palestine: Part 1

Most U.S. antiwar Movement organizers (like the majority of Upper West Side residents—including the majority of Upper West Side residents of Jewish religious background who are under 50-years-of-age) don’t think lobbying groups like AIPAC and ADL should still be promoting the shipment of munitions by the GOP Trump administration to the IDF in 2025.

And most U.S. antiwar Movement organizers (like the majority of Upper West Side residents—including the majority of Upper West Side residents of Jewish religious background who are under 50-years-of-age) don’t think it’s democratic for U.S. citizens, born in the USA, to be allowed to migrate to Palestine while the Israeli government in Palestine still continues to deny many people of Palestinian Arab descent from fully exercising their United Nations-authorized “right of return” in 2025.

Yet, as then-Middlebury College Professor of International and Global Studies and Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University Visiting Research Professor of Sociology, Senior Research Scientist and Mandel Foundation Consultant Theodore Sasson noted, in a book published by NYU Press in 2014, which was titled The New American Zionism:

“Founded in 2002 Nefesh B’Nefesh [NBN]…promoted and facilitated the immigration of Jews from the United States, Canada, and England to Israel…Yekoshua Fass, the rabbi of a Boca Raton [FLA] synagogue, and Tony Gelbart, an investment fund manager…established Nefesh B’Nefesh [NBN]--`Soul to Soul’—with…aim of systematically lowering the barriers to Aliyah for Jews from English-speaking countries.

“Nefesh settles immigrants through Israel and in the West Bank…During its first decade, Nefesh brought roughly 33,000 new immigrant from English-speaking countries [to Palestine], an estimated 90 percent of whom have remained in the country. In 2010, the organization brought 3,980 immigrants from North America…”

And according to an early 21st-century historical article, titled “Nefesh B’Nefesh Promotes Aliyah”, posted on the pro-Israeli government Jewish Press website:

“A new organization was established in the USA in order to promote aliyah from North America to Israel…It is the brainchild of Tony B. Gelbart, a wealthy businessman…The following leaders in Israel expressed support for this initiative:…Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, Natan Sharansky,…and Ehud Olmert….

“Toby B. Gelbart, [then] 45, is co-founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh and President and CEO of CPM Worldwide Group, an investment company based in Boca Raton, Florida with holdings in both the U.S. and Israel.

“Mr. Gelbart...grew up committed to…Zionistic causes and later founded many…Israeli activist groups…While attending Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York, Mr. Gelbart was an active advisor and participant in groups such as Herut, SSSJ, B'nai Brith, Hillel and the ADL. During his college years, Mr. Gelbart also spent a significant portion of time in Israel attending Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“In 1982, Mr. Gelbart became President and CEO of T&M Agro Group, a New York based company, which imported perishable foodstuffs from Israel. T&M also worked with many Israeli agricultural businesses such as Netafim, Plastro G'vat, Hazera Seed Company and Kibbutz Dolav/Dvir.

“In 1989 Mr. Gelbart founded and served as President and CEO of Carewell Industries, an oral care products company, until its sale to Playtex in 1997…Under his leadership, Carewell's Dentax brand was the fastest growing brand of toothbrushes in the United States in 1995 and 1996.

“As President and CEO of Paper Partners, a company Mr. Gelbart started in 1991, he launched White Cloud brand bathroom tissue in 1999…

“Since founding CPM Worldwide Group in 1995, Mr. Gelbart and his company have been very active in seeking out, and investing in, Israeli companies…Currently, CPM Worldwide Group is in the process of bringing to the U.S. markets Israeli businesses such as Opti-Clip International, Samson Lift Technologies, Osem Cakes and others.”

In the current decade of the 21st-century, NBN Chairman Gelbart, who “was appointed a number of years ago by President George W. Bush as a council member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,” is “President and CEO of Old City Partners, LLC, an investment company based in Boca Raton, Florida with business interests in both the U.S. and Israel,” according to the NBN.org website.

And according to a post about Gelbart on a website called Project Nemesis:

“Gelbart funds the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think-tank. Gelbert is also affiliated with the Republican Jewish Coalition Board of Directors and the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)…

“Gelbart has a close relationship with Netanyahu. He frequently assisted Netanyahu financially during his [Netanyahu’s] stay in the U.S. and later donated to his Likud party campaigns. He is also one of the donors who contributed to Netanyahu’s Knesset campaign. Netanyahu gave lectures on behalf of Gelbart, for a fee of $40,000. In one instance, Gelbart gave $6,500 to Netanyahu’s wife, Sara. In 2003, Netanyahu wrote a recommendation letter for Gelbart: `To Whom It May Concern: I consider Tony Gelbart a good friend…Tony’s commitment to strengthening the State of Israel…and his commitment to businesses…have proven an invaluable asset to me and the State of Israel…’”

So, not surprisingly, “with the full support of the IDF, and in cooperation with the Friends of the IDF (FIDF), the Nefesh B’Nefesh Lone Soldiers Program was established” by Old City Partners, LLC President and CEO and NBN Chairman Gelbart during the 21st-century “to assist and support the…young men and women who choose to serve in the IDF, regardless of their country of origin,” and to “provide resources, support and guidance for a successful IDF service,” according to the NBN website.

And, of the around 85,000 individuals who have migrated to Palestine between 2002 and 2025 under the sponsorship of NBN’s “Aliyah” program, around 13,280 have served as “lone soldiers” in the IDF of the U.S. government-supported Israeli power elite’s war machine, including 231 young individuals of the 3,020 individuals from North America who “made Aliyah in 2023,” according to the NBN website. (end of part 1)