I made aliyah 25 years ago, at the end of the massive aliyah out of the former USSR. Since, it has become clear to me that the motivation and nature of aliyah has significantly changed.
My observation is that MOST aliyah from the US is economically motived, not by lack of opportunity in America but by the cost of religious education. I have met very few olim who are not religious and not a member of one of the many orthodox flavors one finds in America today. They come to insure that their children will get a religious education, one which is increasingly expensive in the US. I have even met some that commute to the US for their employment, coming back to Israel for a monthly or more often shabbat with the family. There is also a significant portion of American aliyah that come for retirement. Israeli is very attractive economically especially when one looks at the cost and quality of medical care.
There is an increasing number of French olim that come for safety reasons but many again maintain their business and livelihood in France, commuting on some regular basis. The cost and logistics between France and Israel is obviously more reasonable than that between the US and Israel.
If one looks at the historic numbers of olim, the numbers from North America were small. US and Canadian Jews expressed their Zionism early by sending guns, but rarely soldiers (there were a few, some very important to the war effort, but the numbers were small). Later the support was economic with donations and bond purchases. Political support developed over the years with funding for lobbying groups, and legislative candidate. But again, total North American aliyah, both in numbers and as a percent of the total Jewish population, remained small compared to the UK, S. Africa, Argentina, the USSR and Europe as a whole.
In the long term, I don't see a significant number of US Jews coming to Israel. The number of Jews that will disappear from the rosters will be far higher due to intermarriage and assimilation. The American Jewish population will continue to be important politically and economically, but not as a source of significant population growth for Israel.
I made aliyah 25 years ago, at the end of the massive aliyah out of the former USSR. Since, it has become clear to me that the motivation and nature of aliyah has significantly changed.
My observation is that MOST aliyah from the US is economically motived, not by lack of opportunity in America but by the cost of religious education. I have met very few olim who are not religious and not a member of one of the many orthodox flavors one finds in America today. They come to insure that their children will get a religious education, one which is increasingly expensive in the US. I have even met some that commute to the US for their employment, coming back to Israel for a monthly or more often shabbat with the family. There is also a significant portion of American aliyah that come for retirement. Israeli is very attractive economically especially when one looks at the cost and quality of medical care.
There is an increasing number of French olim that come for safety reasons but many again maintain their business and livelihood in France, commuting on some regular basis. The cost and logistics between France and Israel is obviously more reasonable than that between the US and Israel.
If one looks at the historic numbers of olim, the numbers from North America were small. US and Canadian Jews expressed their Zionism early by sending guns, but rarely soldiers (there were a few, some very important to the war effort, but the numbers were small). Later the support was economic with donations and bond purchases. Political support developed over the years with funding for lobbying groups, and legislative candidate. But again, total North American aliyah, both in numbers and as a percent of the total Jewish population, remained small compared to the UK, S. Africa, Argentina, the USSR and Europe as a whole.
In the long term, I don't see a significant number of US Jews coming to Israel. The number of Jews that will disappear from the rosters will be far higher due to intermarriage and assimilation. The American Jewish population will continue to be important politically and economically, but not as a source of significant population growth for Israel.