New theories of migration may provide a fuller explanation of this phenomenon. Evaluating this debate, I reject the push-pull dichotomy of classic categories of migration, as this paradigm over-simplifies a complex phenomenon and obscures the lived experience of Jewish-American migrants to Israel. In contrast, these catalysts must be viewed as intertwined concepts where subjects felt complete assimilation in their country of origin to be unachievable and saw immigration as a means to fully maximize Jewish and Zionist aspiration. Jewish-American immigration to Israel addressed an aim they believed they could not achieve in the US (the push) but would be fulfilled in Israel (the pull). As my research suggests, this notion was especially true for Jewish-American settlers in the occupied territories after 1967.