‘After October 7, I feel that it’s my purpose to live in Israel’

Over 1,000 people attended Sunday’s Aliyah Day – one of the biggest ever turnouts at a UK information fair on Israel.

Organised by Israel’ s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the World Zionist Organisation, and the Jewish Agency, the event attracted 1,100 people across the generations and the spectrum of religious observance heard from experts in the Israeli job market,  the rights of olim (new immigrants), propoerty and higher education, and even had the chance to sample an Ulpan class (modern Hebrew).

The culmination of the afternoon in Mill Hill was a performance from acclaimed Israeli singer-songwriter and musician, Idan Raichel

Speaking to attendees, it was evident that a strong pull factor was a sense of duty to support Israel following October 7.

Yvonne, 65, from Ilford, who attended with her husband, Leslie, 73, told the JC: “The first time I visited Israel, I was 21 and felt immediately at home there, but I didn’t want to leave my mum, who would have been by herself, as my father had died.

“But since October 7, I have felt useless being here. In February, I went to volunteer in Israel as I wanted to feel I was doing something to help. Now, I feel that we should be living there. It’s a sense of responsibility.”

The Jewish Agency for Israel stand at the Aliyah Day (Photo: Omri Dagan)[Missing Credit]

As well as being drawn to the country, the retired teacher said that when she first returned to the UK after her latest Israel trip, she felt “very vulnerable. I felt safer out there”.

Amongst her non-Jewish friends, the topic of Israel was “the elephant in the room”, she said, adding: “The English news just tells lies, and only a couple of my non-Jewish friends understand that Israelis are the good guys.”

For Leslie, who is on his second marriage after his first wife passed away, said “the dream was always to go and live in Israel, but then I settled down here with a job and kids, and I never pursued it.”

Now a retired jeweller, he said that if it weren’t for his concerns over leaving behind his 95-year-old mother, “we would be there already”.

At the other end of the family tree, one of Leslie’s eight grandchildren is now living in Israel, and he would like to join him, but both he and his wife said they were apprehensive about what they would actually do if they moved there.

“In the UK, we’ve got voluntary work, our friends and a life filled with lots of different things,” said Leslie. “But in Israel, what would we do there? We want to live a purposeful life.

Yvonne added: “We have enjoyed today’s lectures and the interactive Ulpan, but, so far, we haven’t come across anything to help alte kachers who want to make aliyah.”

Visitors go round the many information stands at the Aliyah Day (Photo: Omri Dagan)[Missing Credit]

The large turnout reflected the surge in the number of diaspora Jews moving to Israel. According to the World Zionist Organisation, in 2024, the those making aliyah from the UK jumped to 660 from the previous year’s figure of 404.

In the first five months of 2025, 250 people have made aliyah from the UK, a 12 per cent increase from the same period last year, and currently, the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency are supporting about 980 families actively in the aliyah process.

Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer, who had flown in for the aliyah fair, said: “We have witnessed growing interest among British Jewry to immigrate to Israel over the past two years. The data speaks for itself.”

Despite the information day seemingly attracting people of all ages, he said that most olim from the UK were currently “young people, eager to be part of the Zionist story and to express support for Israel, especially during times of conflict”.

For Maxine Elias, 53, from Hendon, moving to Israel would be a way of fulfilling “my purpose, which is to help people”, she said. “And post-October 7, Israel is going to need as much help as possible”.

Having always worked in the wellbeing industry and now training to be a psychologist, she is currently the UK ambassador for Chayals’ Angels, a charity which was set up on October 8 to offer holistic treatments to Israeli soldiers. “I’m now going out there every four months to help with the charity’s work, and the more I go there, the more I want to be there.”

Also attracting her to a life in Israel is that one of her four sons has already made aliyah, “and I want to be able to provide for my kids and grandkids the same way I would, whether they are living in the UK or in Israel”.

But for Maxine, who is single, there is also the push factor of the increase in antisemitism since October 7.

Very active in the campaign to bring back the 56 hostages still in Gaza, Maxine says that after October 7, she “got a lot of abuse” on dating apps for showing support for Israel, and “as a single, Jewish woman, I don’t feel secure here, either physically or emotionally, whereas in Israel, I feel very secure.”

Visitors at the Aliyah Day event (Photo: Omri Dagan)[Missing Credit]

Her feelings were echoed by Chaim Evers, who is concerned for his children’s future in the UK.

The 40-year-old observant Jew from Hendon, who moved to the UK from Belgium 20 years ago “for a better Jewish life”, said that he had come to the conclusion that the surge in antisemitism he had witnessed on on campuses here meant that none of his four children would be going to university in the UK. “I don’t want to send them into a hostile environment,” he told the JC. “This is the harsh reality.”

As someone who wears a kippah in public, since October 7, he has experienced “threatening behaviour and people going past me, shouting: ‘Free Palestine’. But I’m not personally scared as there was a lot of antisemitism when I was living in Antwerp. There, I was pelted with stones at the age of nine.”

While he considers Israel’s education system to be superior to the UK’s as “it is built for neurodiverse children”, he said wasn’t looking forward to giving up some of the luxuries he enjoys in the UK – “two cars, a cleaner and Sundays off”, adding: “Life in the UK is really nice, peaceful and calm, but since October 7, we are being pushed out. My grandmother, a Holocaust, said to me before she died: ‘It starts by calling people names, and it ends in Auschwitz. Don’t be fooled.’ I don’t want to send my kids to university in the UK or Europe to be spat at.”

Idan Raichel (Photo: Omri Dagan)[Missing Credit]

As well as those interested in moving Israel for the first time, there were also a number who had been born there, moved away and many years later, were now hoping to return.

Hila Wiciejowska was there with her 10-year-old son. Having been born in Israel, Hila had come to the UK at the age of five before going back for army service and Ulpan at the age of 18.

Deciding to come back to the UK several years later “to get established in a career, rather than starting at the bottom of the ladder in Israel”, she trained as a mid-wife in London.

“And 20 years later, I am still here. You get into a routine as one year turns into two and two turn into 10.”

As well as seeing how content her sister is in Israel, where she got married and brought up her kids, Hila is attracted to the Israeli outlook on life. “I always say: ‘In Israel, life is hard, but there is life. In the UK, life is easier, but there is no life.’ In Israel, bureaucracy is harder, but people go out a lot more, but the UK is socially dead. Everything is shut by 10 o’clock. Also, the weather means that children have far more opportunities to be outside.”

(l-r) Malca Zeckler, Esti Levy, Hila Wiciejowska and Mira Mitchell at the Aliyah Day (Photo: Gaby Wine)[Missing Credit]

One thing that she and other toshavim chozrim (returning residents ) find frustrating is the lack of support they would be given compared to olim hadashim (new immigrants) “If they gave us as many rights as new olim, there would be more incentives for us to return.”

Currently, new arrivals are given a financial package from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration to help cover initial living costs, a rental subsidy, reduced income tax rates and exemptions on certain foreign-source income.

Israeli-born lawyer, Malka Zeckler agreed with Hila, saying: “There needs to be more help for Israelis going back to Israel after 10 or 20 years away. They need to do something to get more people to move back. I would have liked to have spoken to the Minister of Aliyah and Integration about this today. ”

However, not everyone needed convincing about making the big move. Maxine Elias said that she had “100 per cent” made her decision. “Now, it’s just a matter of when. I thought today’s fair was really good as it had lots of information in one place and I came away more enlightened.”

Audience members at the Idan Raichel concert (Photo: Omri Dagan)[Missing Credit]

And Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organisation, said that Maxine and others making aliyah would be welcomed with open arms. “The Aliyah fair in London once again proves how strong and present the Zionist spirit is among the Jewish diaspora. The State of Israel is home to all Jews, and the World Zionist Organisation will continue to stand alongside every new Oleh. It is the responsibility of every citizen in Israel to embrace Olim and assist their absorption.”