What makes you say it is harder to get Israeli citizenship? Why would one need to be a citizen in order to move there (I know people living there for many decades as non citizens)? 08-09 was bad here? If so how does moving to Jerusalem make any difference?
You could be correct about being able to live there without citizenship so far, but laws are changing , a year ago any non Israeli without a TZ # cant open a bank account, and Bituah Leumi --etc are only available to citizens and in some cases to Yeshiva students. They do not want non citizens to get any benefits without having Israel as their main residence, i.e stay at least 6 out of 12 months in the country and pay taxes. Since I live in the USA , when i renewed my passport at the Chicago consulate they changed my 10 year passport to a 2 year Israeli Taudat Mevar, same happened to many Israelis I know.
In 2008-09 the USA economy , housing market and stock market collapsed , was only partially saved by extreme money printing and banks bail out, the Israeli economy , banks and real estate markets were not affected, it looks like all about to repeat soon, the USA is 23 trillion USD in debt and increasing, it is the most debted nation in history, better to have an option out when needed.