Interest in immigrating to Israel from US soars despite pandemic-era challenges

When Aaron Feinblatt moved to Israel in late February 2020, just as the first signs of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak were emerging, only one person wore a mask on his aliyah flight.

Feinblatt had no idea that masks would soon become the norm for him and everyone else, nor how COVID-19 would affect the first year in his new home.

"I got here two weeks before the country completely shut down," he said. "With all the lockdowns and restrictions in the last year, I feel like I have been physically here but my aliyah hasn't yet happened."

Yet the 29-year-old lawyer from Philadelphia has no regr...