When the plane door opened, everyone understood the true source of Israel's strength

There are many sounds of excitement. But the sounds of anticipation for a new beginning are different. They are the sound of lives packed into suitcases, the sound of people returning home, and the sound of unconditional love.

This week, I boarded a flight from Paris to Israel. I accompanied 34 families, including 80 children, from the airport in France until our landing in Israel. On board were 11 babies taking their first steps in the world, but even the adults among them were starting over from scratch.

It almost seems irrational. In a country facing so many fronts, security challenges, and internal tensions, there are those who choose to leave everything behind and start anew right here. These are Jews who have tied their fate to ours, driven by something deeper—a compass that guides us all. This place is not taken for granted. Not for those born here, nor for those who love the country from afar, missing it and waiting for the day they can build their home here. It is difficult to describe the magnitude of this choice: leaving behind a language, a job, family, and familiar security to start from zero.

But when you sit beside them at an altitude of thousands of feet, seeing their shining eyes and hearing the songs and joy that fill the cabin, you understand something vital about who we are and who we want to be. It is about what connects us to our country, to each other, and to ourselves.

Up there, you understand that courage does not always look like what we are used to imagining. Sometimes courage is reflected in parents who hold their small children in their arms and believe that their family's future should be built only in one country, with all its difficulties.

The moment the wheels touch the soil of Israel and the doors open, the plane fills with tears of emotion, and a new spirit enters. The spirit of home. A dream becomes reality, and an ancient idea continues to be fulfilled.

Aliyah has been and will remain the great engine of growth for the State of Israel. Every immigrant brings with them not only a personal story but a new strength for Israeli society. The strength to build, to create, to establish communities, and to add another layer to our common home. This strength is needed now more than ever.

We are not measured only on the battlefield. We are measured by our ability to continue building, growing, and believing. The waves of Aliyah are the beating heart of the Israeli revival. They will strengthen the Negev and the Galilee, enrich our society, and remind us all that Zionism is not a story of the past, but a choice we make every day. It is the future. Seeing the immigrants descending the stairs, full of faith and simple love for the country, is the strongest answer to anyone who wonders what the true power of Israel is.

These sounds of excitement are what every Israeli must hear within themselves. These are the sounds of our people. The sounds of hope.

The author is Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, who accompanied the flight of families making Aliyah from France to Israel this week.