North American aliyah hits record month as over 1,100 olim arrive, with 4,000 expected in 2026

More than 1,100 North Americans have immigrated to Israel this month through Nefesh B’Nefesh, marking a new monthly aliyah (immigration) record for the organization, Nefesh B’Nefesh said on Thursday.

“It’s record-breaking for us,” Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Vice President of Diaspora Partnerships, Marc Rosenberg, told The Jerusalem Post at Ben-Gurion Airport that day, as some 150 more North American olim (immigrants) arrived in the country.

“It's quite a summer,” he continued. “Over 2,300 people are arriving. It's really been a very busy summer.”

Founded in 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh facilitates aliyah from North America in partnership with Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and Jewish National Fund-USA. The organization recently marked the arrival of its 100,000th oleh.

According to Nefesh B’Nefesh, more than 2,200 North Americans are expected to make aliyah over the summer, including olim arriving on nearly 100 group flights or completing the process from within Israel.

Approximately 2,700 North Americans have made aliyah since the beginning of 2026, and the organization estimates that more than 4,000 will do so by the end of the year, making 2026 one of its strongest years.

Among the new olim were seven families from the Persian Jewish community of Great Neck, New York, who arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport earlier this month.

Rosenberg said one factor driving the wave of aliyah was parents’ desire to raise their children in Israel.

“They want to be a part of the project that built Israel,” he said. “They see a big quality of life here, and they admire what young people in Israel are doing. And they're saying they want to be a part of it.”

Aliyah on the rise

Nefesh B’Nefesh has seen “a significant increase in interest in aliyah,” Rosenberg said, with numbers rising between three and five percent annually in recent years.

Among them are a growing number of singles under 30, many of whom are required to serve in the military. Others are set to study at Israeli universities. Families making aliyah are also getting younger.

“The average age of families last year, two years ago, used to be around 32. It's 29 this summer,” Rosenberg said. “So we see some younger families that are coming.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh said this summer’s olim include approximately 1,100 singles, 480 families and 250 retirees, ranging in age from five months to 98 years old.

Some 700 school-aged children also made aliyah this summer, including 80 who will begin first grade next month.

“As we recently celebrated our 100,000th Oleh, it is particularly inspiring to see so many young people choosing to make Israel their home, to build their careers and families here, put down roots and invest their futures in this country,” Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founder and executive director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass said.

One of those arriving Thursday was Marlene, who landed with her husband, Michael, and their baby.

Marlene told the Post that, for her, the timing was right.

“We got married last year, so it's something that I've been trying to make happen,” she said, adding that Michael, who had made aliyah a few years earlier, “just made it easy for me.”

“This is always where I wanted to be, wanted to raise my children, have my future,” she said.

Marlene, from Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community, said she was the last of eight families from the community who had made aliyah over the past week, and that the trend appeared to be spreading.

“The trend started years and years ago. It was one family, then another family, and then over the years, more and more families were getting it into their heads,” she said. “This summer was a really big deal that eight of us made it happen at the same time. And I think there's already a group in talks to do it next summer.”

Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer: 'Inspiring' to see young people choose Israel

Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer said it was “inspiring to see so many young people and families choosing to build their futures in Israel,” adding that government programs were intended to help new olim integrate into Israeli communities and the workforce.

Jewish Agency chairman Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog similarly described the month’s 1,100 olim as families and young people who had chosen “to build their lives here and be part of the future of the State of Israel.”

Chava, from Richmond, Virginia, also said it was “the time” to make aliyah and that the move was what was “best for our family.”

“Our kids are the right age, and also I'm approaching middle age, and it just seems like the right time,” she said. “Just everything lined up.”

“We were kind of done with the US and all of the craziness that's happening there. But at the same time, we were just drawn to the Holy Land. We need to live as our authentic Jewish selves.”

Another new oleh, Gedalia, who has worked in the rabbinate in the US for several years, said he had wanted to move for a long time and was now joining several of his children who already live in Israel.

“Another rav came and listened to a shiur (lesson) of mine, and he told me it was the best shiur he had heard,” Gedalia, who was making aliyah from Silver Spring, Maryland, recounted.

“He was going all up and down the East Coast, and he said it was fantastic. And I said, ‘I need to go somewhere people will really appreciate this skill.’”

Rivka and Rella, a mother and daughter from New York whose family also made aliyah Thursday, voiced their elation at becoming Israelis.

“We love it here, and this is where we feel like we’re home,” Rivka told the Post.

“Why wait?” Rella asked. “You know, we could have done it two years from now, but take the risk! Do it!”

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Modi’in, Ra’anana and Beit Shemesh are among the most popular destinations for this summer’s North American olim, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh. Some 650, however, are moving to communities in Israel’s North and South, bolstering peripheral communities.