Besalel, i think someday was referring to the million sefardi refugees who came to israel; most of whom went to zionist schools, the army, etc, and were totally oisgeshmaded. The zionists were also the reason why those sefardim were forced out kf their former countries.
The ones who went to America stayed Jewish, too. Look at the Syrian community in America…most did not intermarry, and the same resurgence of Torah that happened in EY is happening in Brooklyn right now.
But in EY, they went frei right away, BECAUSE of the state.
And many intermarried without knowing it, because the state recognizes patrilineal descent and fake gerim; an issue not present in America, where even the frei sefardim listen to rabbis.