Newscaster: 360 North American Jews made aliyah this morning on a special flight organized by the Nefesh B''Nefesh organization. More than 100 of those who arrived this morning will shortly be enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces. Some 2500 westerners are making aliyah this summer. Yael Katzman, the director of communications at Nefesh B''Nefesh, spoke with reporter Mark Weiss about this morning''s flight.

Yael Katzman: Uh, this morning was, uh, extremely inspirational flight. We had, uh, about 350, uh, rather 360 new Olim. They came in from the US and Canada. Uh, what was special about it was that we had about 104, uh, men and women who are gonna be, uh, getting drafted into the Israeli army. So, there was a real presence there of young people who are gonna be making, uh, tremendous difference to the country in the next few months.

Mark Weiss: What is the profile of these people? Are they sons and daughters of Israeli yordim, are they religious, secular? Who are they?

Yael Katzman: Well, basically, it''s a whole gamma. We have lots of people, uh, who were born Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, uh, different affiliations. Uh, you have different ages. Uh, the youngest, the youngest child on the plane, just to give you an example, is 5 month old, and the oldest is 82. Uh, and then, of course, I mentioned the, the 104 soldiers that are coming, that are between ages that probably about 18 and, uh, 20. Uh, see, you basically cover the whole gamma. Lot of professionals: there were doctors on the plane, accountants, uh, real estate specialists, uh, lots of different professions and, and people coming from all over. I think most of the, the States, most of the United States were, were covered. Anywhere from Arizona to, uh, to Ohio, to Pennsylvania. We had them basically coming from all over the place.

Mark Weiss: Now we''ve heard interviews with some of them on Israeli radio this morning, those who intend to enlist in the IDF. They said that they were an extremely highly-motivated group. And most, most of them were trying to get into, uh, the top combat units.

Yael Katzman: Uh-hm, correct. A lot of them, a lot of them have indicated interest to, to go to Egoz and, uh, and Duvdevan, and, and to, basically make as much of a difference as they can. And that''s really what''s uplifting about this whole thing. Uh, as, as a veteran Ola myself, uh, to, you know, to watch these, uh, these young people, uh, you know, making huge life change and coming over and wanting to make a change and a difference out of pure Zionism and ideology, it''s just a beautiful thing to see.

Mark Weiss: Now, the arrival of, of this morning''s flight and the 2500 westerners, who would be making aliyah this summer, coincides, of course, with the, the very large social protest movement in Israel. And, uh, the main theme of this protest is how difficult it is, in Israel, to make ends meet. Do you think the new immigrants are aware of this, and do you think they will be able to stick it out and make, make a success of their aliyah?

Yael Katzman: I think for sure. Uh, I think people are coming in, uh, definitely, uh, more educated. Uh, they''re not, they''ve done their homework, in fact, that never show, never show disencouraging ... to do their homework and to see, uh, from a financial standpoint, from a career standpoint, from education that they''re looking for. To see for whatever, whatever they''re looking for, I mean establishing their new life here, that we''re looking for them to, uh, to make the right choices. Uh, I don''t think that things have changed overnight. I think that anyone coming on today''s flight, uh, had definitely explored their options, and, and we all know that, uh, you know, moving to Israel, I think is, is especially for westerners is, is really, uh, a major ideological move, as opposed to, a, uh, you know, a, uh, a monetary or physical, physical upgrade. People are looking for different things and I think that they''ll, they''ll find that here.

Newscaster: Yael Katzman, the director of communications at Nefesh B''Nefesh