210 new immigrants from the US and Canada between 3 months to 88 years old arrived at Ben Gurion Airport this morning on the Nefesh B'Nefesh flight, the second of 5 chartered flights slated for this summer.

Newscaster: 210 new immigrants from the US and Canada between 3 months to 88 years old arrived at Ben Gurion Airport this morning on the Nefesh B''Nefesh flight, the second of 5 chartered flights slated for this summer. Amongst the new arrivals are returning Israelis as well. Attorney Noah Lason and his wife Reese left Israel 4 years ago to study in the US. They and their 3 small children were on the Nefesh B''Nefesh flight this morning bound for their new home in Modi''in. Reporter Idele Ross asked Noah if there was more of an interest in immigration to Israel because of the economic downturn in the US .
Noah Lason: There will be a continuing growth in the phenomena of coming to Israel, obviously there''s a lot of uncertainty in the US now economically, politically, which to a certain extent does play on the minds of people who at least have it somewhere in their heart or in their mind to make Aliyah. So I think it''s hard to say whether the economics or the politics are gonna be the straw that broke the camel''s back in terms of people just making Aliyah because of what happened, but I think it''s definitely a factor in the overall decision, particularly for me it wasn''t, but I''m in a different situation than other people. Those who are more entrenched in the United States maybe willing to consider those outside factors in making a decision to make Aliyah .
Idele Ross: Why did you decide to come back at this particular junction ?
Noah Lason: We thought it was best for our family, for our kids, the opportunity that I got from an employment perspective was a good opportunity, and our kids are at the age, we didn''t want to let them get too entrenched in the school system in the US prior to coming back here because we felt it would be detrimental to them in terms of Hebrew and such. So we just decided that our oldest is going into second grade, so we decided this was the ideal time for us to come back .
Idele Ross: Was your decision at all influenced by the economic downturn that''s taking place right now in the United States ?
Noah Lason: No, it was influenced by a combination of our desire to be back in Israel, to be in Israel itself, be near family and also as I mentioned before, some of the specific issues that were specific to my family .
Idele Ross: How critical to that decision was the assistance that you''ve received from Nefesh B''Nefesh ?
Noah Lason: Nefesh B''Nefesh was great, they were very helpful from start to finish, they gave us papers to fill out in advance so that we''d be able to cut out some of the bureaucratic steps when we got here .
Idele Ross: Besides streamlining the bureaucracy, did Nefesh B''Nefesh also help you financially ?