The Arutz Sheva - Israel National News Jerusalem Conference will take place in New York on May 18, 2025. Ahead of the conference, Jeremy Lustman, Head of DLA Pipe's Israel Group spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about one of the greatest themes of the conference - promoting Aliyah - immigration to Israel.
The DLA Piper offices in New York held on Monday a unique event to encourage immigration to Israel. Leading Israeli law firms and prominent companies came to the United States with the express purpose of recruiting legal professionals interested in immigrating to Israel.
The organizers of the event say that this is unprecedented in the professional recruitment world and that no other industry in Israel sends representatives to the United States proactively to recruit potential immigrants.
"I moved to Israel 15 years ago and have seen a dramatic increase in the number of immigrant lawyers who have moved to Israel," said Jeremy Lustman, Head of DLA Pipe's Israel Group, during an interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News. "I think specifically since October 7th, with increased anti-Semitism and the cost of living growing dramatically in America, and steadily more later stage companies and opportunities in Israel, the doors have opened up quite significantly."
He focused on some of the challenges for legal professionals moving to Israel. "The main things that deter people in this field are the language barrier and the need to start over somewhere new. It's very daunting for anybody in the middle of life to pick up and move. The salary structure is definitely different in Israel, so I think that's a big one."
The challenges are not insurmountable, though. "I often find that that gets mitigated when people realize that their cost structure in Israel is actually a lot less. The cost of tuition, healthcare, and day-to-day living is actually a lot less than it is in America. There's no question that the ability for people to be able to work remotely is helping. People can even try out Israel for a year to get the experience without giving up their jobs.
The organizers note that while today there are few immigrants in their ranks, especially from the professional sector, Israel's leading law firms demonstrate a significant commitment to the integration of new immigrants into the Israeli legal community. "It's about a big ideal of coming home. It's daunting, but there's a tremendous opportunity a huge huge community of immigrants that are there to help embrace anyone who's thinking about coming."
According to the organizers, a similar event last year led to numerous job offers and successful aliyah stories, demonstrating the practical impact of the initiative. A similar event by Nefesh B'Nefesh for medical professionals also yielded positive results.
In addition, information on an upcoming delegation to Israel was given to event participants.