Brandon Korff, grandson of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone and son of former Paramount chair Shari Redstone, filed an official application for Israeli residency in August 2025, according to a government official cited by Ynet and the Jerusalem Post. The filing came shortly after Korff helped complete the roughly $35 billion sale of Paramount. As of this writing, Israeli and Hebrew-language outlets have reported his residency application and his sharply increased time in Israel through 2025; a full switch to citizenship under the Law of Return has not been confirmed by a major outlet.
What Brandon Korff Has Actually Filed For
Korff sat on the board of National Amusements, the Redstone family holding company, until Paramount's sale closed in 2025. A senior Israeli government official told Ynet that Korff "recently submitted an official request to become a resident of the State of Israel," describing the move as a show of support during a period of international boycotts and hostility toward Israel.
The Jerusalem Post separately reported that Korff's connection to Israel "spans several years, marked by his substantial charitable donations to various Israeli causes, including the IDF, medical institutions, and local community projects," and that his brother has served as a lone soldier in an elite IDF unit.
By December 2025, the Israeli entertainment site Ice reported that Korff had made aliyah and received Israeli citizenship at age 39 — but that claim has not been independently confirmed by Ynet, the Jerusalem Post, or Times of Israel, which had only reported the residency filing. Readers should treat the citizenship claim as unverified pending confirmation from Israel's Population and Immigration Authority or a comparable primary source.
Korff has since funded the Brandon Korff Influencers Program at Reichman University, a credit-bearing course training 35 students as social media content creators focused on Israeli public diplomacy, and has personally hosted events for IDF lone soldiers in Tel Aviv.
Israel's Oleh Tax Package, As It Stands in 2026
Whether Korff completes aliyah or settles for residency, the tax mechanics he would be evaluating are well defined. Israel's central benefit for new immigrants is the ten-year exemption on foreign-source income — dividends, rental income, capital gains, interest and foreign pensions — which the Nefesh B'Nefesh 2026 tax update confirms remains fully intact for anyone who becomes an Israeli tax resident on or after January 1, 2026, though that cohort must now report worldwide income and foreign assets to the Israel Tax Authority even while it stays untaxed.
Layered on top of that decade-long exemption, the Times of Israel reported that returning residents who lived abroad ten or more years and new immigrants arriving in 2026 will pay zero income tax on Israeli-sourced income in 2026 and 2027, with rates then stepping up to 10% in 2028, 20% in 2029 and 30% in 2030, capped at roughly NIS 1 million (about $305,000) of annual income.
- Foreign-source income: 0% for 10 years (dividends, foreign rental income, foreign capital gains, foreign pensions), with reporting required from 2026 onward.
- Israeli-sourced income: 0% for tax years 2026–2027 for qualifying new olim, up to about $305,000 annually, then phased in through 2030.
- Venture capital and hedge fund managers: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the Jerusalem Post a separate reform, developed over a year with industry input, is designed to bring Israeli tax treatment in line with New York and Florida, and is awaiting its second and third Knesset readings.
Where California Sits by Comparison
California taxes capital gains as ordinary income with no long-term preferential rate, and its top marginal bracket reaches 13.3% on income above $1 million once the state's 1% Mental Health Services Tax surcharge is included, according to the Franchise Tax Board's published 2026 brackets. Combined with the federal top rate of 37%, a high earner in California can face a marginal rate over 50% on a large capital event such as a business sale or a concentrated stock liquidation.
For someone in Korff's position — an heir with concentrated holdings, recent proceeds from a media conglomerate sale, and no operating salary requirement in Israel — the contrast is direct. A comparable capital gain realized as a California resident would be taxed at up to 13.3% state plus federal capital gains rates; the same gain, if sourced abroad and realized after establishing Israeli tax residency, would fall inside the ten-year foreign-income exemption instead.
| Item | California (2026) | Israel, New Oleh (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Top marginal rate on ordinary income | 13.3% state + 37% federal | 0% on Israeli income through 2027, phased to 30% by 2030 (capped ~$305K/yr) |
| Capital gains | Taxed as ordinary income, up to 13.3% state | 0% for 10 years if foreign-sourced |
| Reporting of foreign assets | Standard federal/state disclosure | Required from 2026 onward, even though untaxed |
The reporting requirement is the catch new arrivals in Korff's bracket need to plan around: the exemption on foreign income remains, per Nefesh B'Nefesh and multiple Israeli accounting firms, but the older practice of not disclosing foreign holdings to the Israel Tax Authority ended for anyone who becomes a resident on or after January 1, 2026.
Why Officials Are Framing This as More Than One Person's Move
Smotrich has said he is building a ten-year plan to bring one million immigrants from North America and Europe to Israel, and has paired that target with the tax reforms above, according to his August 2026 interview with the Jerusalem Post. A single high-profile filing like Korff's does not move that number on its own — Western aliyah totaled just over 9,000 people in 2025 — but Israeli officials have openly used his case as a public example of the wealth-migration effect they are trying to engineer through tax policy rather than persuasion alone.
For more on the broader 2026 tax package driving this pattern, see The 2026 Aliyah Window and the Pull on Wealth and Aliyah & Wealth Migration in 2026: The Olam Guide. For the underlying immigration numbers, see Aliyah Is Booming From the West: The Numbers Behind It.
FAQ
Has Brandon Korff officially made aliyah?
Major outlets including Ynet and the Jerusalem Post have confirmed only that Korff filed for Israeli residency in August 2025. A December 2025 report from the Israeli entertainment site Ice claimed he had completed aliyah and received citizenship at 39, but this has not been independently verified by a primary source or major news outlet.
What tax benefit does a new oleh get on foreign income?
A ten-year exemption from Israeli tax on foreign-sourced income — dividends, rental income, capital gains and pensions — though as of January 1, 2026, that income must still be reported to the Israel Tax Authority even though it isn't taxed.
How does that compare to California's top tax rate?
California's top marginal rate is 13.3%, including the 1% Mental Health Services Tax surcharge on income above $1 million, and the state taxes capital gains as ordinary income with no reduced long-term rate.