Enabling aliya where the dream seemed impossible

There are some who believe that if you can visualise it, your dream will come true. But when Anthony*, 68, and his wife, Helen*, 69, were turned away from their aliya dream years ago, they sadly let it go. Last week, they heard not only that they are making aliya, they have affordable accommodation on the Netanya coast.

“This is our dream come true, and I have no words to say how blessed we feel to Israel for making this happen,” said Anthony this week. “It feels like a miracle.”

Shay Felber, the deputy director-general of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the director of the aliya and absorption unit, said, “We went to the Israeli ministry of aliya and absorption to find out how we could help older South Africans who have family in Israel but can’t afford to make aliya. We have secured 40 two-room units in Netanya that are heavily subsidised by the government specially for South African couples who will have to pay only about 350 Israeli shekels a month.”

Felber, who has a close relationship with the South African Jewish community having been a Jewish Agency shaliach (emissary) here in the early 2000s, is determined to show the South African community that Israel recognises its consistent contribution and dedication. And this project, he said, is one way they can do so.

“We do recognise that the South African community is passionate about Israel and it has challenges because of this. We know that there’s undoubtedly a future for Jews in South Africa, but it will continue to be difficult politically and financially,” Felber told the SA Jewish Report.

“We want you to know that we will continue to support South Africa, and we see that you are paying the price of being a proudly Zionist community. And we want you to know that you aren’t alone. This is our way of giving back to you, by helping those who would otherwise not be able to make aliya to do so.”

This project, a close collaboration between the Jewish Agency and the Chevrah Kadisha (Chev), is at the moment available only to South Africans Jewish couples who are over 60 and physically independent, with a monthly income of less than R30 000. “We’ll obviously have to do our checks, and this unique opportunity will all be on a first-come-first-served basis,” says Felber.

He said the building that will house these people has just been built, and will be specifically for older olim. Though Israel has a good system of public housing, Felber said “queues of Israelis are being bypassed to make this possible”.

For Anthony and Helen, choosing to take up this opportunity was a no-brainer. “My son lives in Israel and I lost my job a few years ago and have been getting help from the Chev,” said Anthony. When they went to the Israel Centre a few years back, they were told that they wouldn’t make it in Israel and so they put their dream on hold.

“We visited our son in Ra’anana in 2022, and loved it there. A friend of the family took us out for a day, and it so happened she took us to Netanya. We drove along the beachfront, and it was magnificent. It turns out we were so close to where we will be living,” he said.

When they went to a talk a week ago about the Netanya Project, Anthony said, “After hearing about this, I literally stood up and asked, ‘Where do we sign up?’ I was blown away by the fact that they are making this happen for us. I just broke down crying. I now believe in miracles.

“It’s still sinking in, and we have a lot to do like sell the house we have lived in for 40 years. We haven’t told most people yet. It’s still so hard to believe it’s happening.”

“I can’t wait to be able to walk the streets late at night, going to visit people on Shabbos, feeling safe,” said Helen. “I love the fact that the children are safe to ride their bicycles everywhere. It’s so wonderful at our age to have a new lease on life, an exciting adventure ahead of us in Israel.”

They are likely to be living in Israel by the middle of 2025.

Felber said that as in the case of this couple, the desire to make aliya in South Africa and around the world hasn’t been curtailed because of Israel being at war. In fact, the opposite is true.

“We have doubled our numbers from France, with 2 200 olim in 2024; more than 700 from the United Kingdom; 3 700 from North America; and 400 from South Africa,” he said.

“While it may seem crazy that aliya has increased to a country at war, it shows people’s commitment to, belief in, and love of Israel,” he said. “Though people may not feel comfortable in France or even South Africa, they aren’t having missiles directed at them there. However, they feel that the only place they will feel comfortable in again is Israel.”

For more information, contact Ziva Taitz at the Israel Centre on 082 610 9077.

*The couple’s names have been changed because they have yet to tell their family and friends that they are making aliya