Why are Americans moving to Israel?

Goldi Mandelbaum was busy planning her move to Israel when Hamas stormed into the country on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people in the deadliest onslaught in the nation's history.

Her friends and family thought the violence might compel her to cancel her plans. Instead, the 28-year-old from Manchester, New Jersey, was even more determined to go. She boarded her flight from Newark to Tel Aviv a month earlier than scheduled.

Mandelbaum is among over 800 immigrants who have opted to go to Israel during the deadliest violence the region has seen in decades. Americans who have opted to move say they wanted to express their solidarity with Israel, on emotional, political and spiritual levels. Other say their arrivals in cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were motivated by a desire to feel safe following fear of increased antisemitic attacks in the United States.