At first glance, the idea seems absurd. Israel, a small country, is surrounded by hostile actors. Hezbollah in the north, Hamas in the south, and Houthis in Yemen all pose threats that are tangible and relentless. Internally, the nation is embroiled in an emotionally charged debate over military conscription. And yet, more and more Jews, including recent olim, say they feel safer in Israel than in America, or any other Jewish community in the Diaspora.

Why? The answer isn’t simple, but it is related to what “safety” really means for a people with a long memory of persecution, and an acute awareness of what it feels like to be both at home and unwelcome in the same breath.

Visible vs. Invisible Threats

In America and in other Western countries, the threats to Jews are often insidious, creeping in through the cracks of political polarization, conspiracy theories and normalization of antisemitic tropes. Antisemitic incidents in the United States—like the recent shooting in D.C.—have reached all-time highs in recent years. Synagogues require security guards, Jewish day schools install reinforced doors, and many observant Jews think twice before wearing a kippah in public.

The Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas in Gaza was horrific, and for many American Jews, what followed was just as shocking. Friends, colleagues, classmates, even celebrities and politicians refused to unequivocally condemn the atrocities. Instead, they justified them, minimized them, or ignored them altogether. On college campuses, Jewish students were harassed and silenced. Progressive Jews who long championed causes of social justice found themselves abandoned—or even targeted—by movements they once supported.

For Diaspora Jews, the enemy proved to be everywhere—in the boardroom, in the classroom, even underlying casual conversation. In Israel the threats are out in the open, but the country is built to deal with them. Sirens wail, missiles are intercepted, shelters exist, and the entire society knows the drill. You are not alone in facing danger; the danger unites you with your neighbors.

This paradox of feeling safer in a country under fire makes sense when safety is understood as not just as the absence of violence, but as the presence of solidarity, clarity and control.

A Jewish Public Square

In Israel it doesn’t matter what your religious affiliation is—you are part of the dominant cultural group. However, in the Diaspora, you constantly navigate between worlds. You leave work early for Yom Kippur and wonder who will cover for you. You try to explain why you don’t eat bread for a week during Passover, or why you can’t attend a meeting on a Saturday. For many, this tightrope walk leads to being a perpetual outsider.

However, this tension simply doesn’t exist in Israel. In Israel, your children will learn Jewish history, sing Jewish songs, and grow up seeing themselves reflected in every corner of life—from the bus schedule to the supermarket aisles filled with matzah or sufganiyot. That kind of psychological and spiritual safety is nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere.

Shared Destiny Amid Division

Yes, Israel is going through one of the most divisive internal debates in its history. The question of whether Haredi men should be required to serve in the IDF (like the rest of Israeli society) has exposed the cracks in Israeli society. For many olim, especially from North America, this can be jarring. And yet, even this tension reinforces something unique about Israel: that all of this matters because we are one people.

In Israel, these debates happen inside a shared house, among family. Passions are high precisely because Israelis feel collective ownership of their country and an understanding that our destinies are bound together. Compare that with the situation in America, where Jewish voices are increasingly marginalized within political coalitions on both the left and the right. Many Jews feel forced to choose between their values and their identity, their safety and their acceptance. When antisemitism emerges, it often feels like no one is coming to help.

In Israel, everyone steps up.

Conclusion: Not Just Safer, but Home

The decision to make aliyah is not purely rational. It’s rarely made because one country is objectively safer than another on paper. It’s about where one feels seen, heard, protected and whole. In Israel, Jews may live under threat, but they do not live in fear of being who they are.

Life in Israel can be complex. It’s often contentious. But for many Jews Israel offers something priceless: the knowledge that they are not guests, not tolerated minorities, and not apologists. In Israel, they are simply Jews, at home, among their own.

Chag Shavuot sameach!

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