ELECTION FEARS DRIVE ALIYAH INTEREST
► THE FEAR of Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister has driven interest in a series of meetings the Jewish Agency facilitated in the UK about making aliyah.
Lea Golan, the Jewish Agency’s executive director, and Simon Monk, a private banker who emigrated from the UK to Israel 25 years ago, coordinated four informal meetings in North London last week.
Around 140 people, all aged over 50, attended gatherings in private homes in Edgware and Hampstead and one in a synagogue in North West London.
While they both stressed that the prospect of a Labour government was not the only factor, Mr Monk told the
JC it had “enhanced interest, awareness and planning”. He added: “In every meeting I have had in London, Labour is mentioned, but it wasn’t like people were panicking. People are not fleeing. Maybe it has advanced their planning.
“It has increased the number of people interested. People are taking the next steps. But this is not a situation like Russia or Venezuela where they just want to get out, thank God.”
Ms Golan added: “It was a very effective way of reaching out to people who were thinking about making aliyah anyway. Obviously the people coming to such meetings already have connections to Israel — such as family.
“In my experience of working in aliyah for many years, there is never just one reason. It never works like this unless, God forbid, in a rescue operation. And this is not that scenario.”
The number of Britons making aliyah ranges between roughly 500 and 850 per year — although the period between January and November this year saw an 11 per cent rise.
On the financial side, Mr Monk said that the abolition of inheritance tax in Israel was “a factor”, but added that the relative weakness of the pound to the shekel is an obstacle to prospective olim — particularly older ones. He said: “When I made aliyah in the mid-1990s, it was 8.7 shekels to the pound. Now it is 4.50 — a huge, huge drop.
“That’s mainly down to the strength of the Israeli economy. The UK’s economic situation is also a concern.”
Labour antisemitism has increased the numbers interested’