Melvin Berwald, originally from the United Kingdom, an active member of the UK Voluntary Campaign Council since 2019 was interviewed about his reasons for making Aliyah to Israel. Melvin is retired, but leading property lawyer in London. He is one of the founders of PCB Layers LLP and he specialised with investment properties both in the UK and Far East. Melvin has been involved for many years with Israel-connected institutions, and has been a trustee of the UJIA for many years.

Israel Bonds: What year did you make aliyah?  Were you alone or did you go with family?

Melvin:  My wife Sharman and I made aliyah in September, 2019. My youngest daughter was already living in Israel, as, from 2014, she went to university at IDC, Herzliya, and continued living here on a temporary stay visa before upgrading her status to full aliyah a couple of years later.

 

Israel Bonds: Was there a specific event or driving force that prompted your decision at that time?

Melvin: The truth is that I’ve wanted to make aliyah for about forty years.  But as an English lawyer, I didn’t think my skills were transportable, although today, with modern technology, it’s very different. In addition, much of my professional life was focused on Southeast Asia.

I also felt limited by not having sufficiently fluent Hebrew, but today, Israel is such an international country that even this is not necessarily a bar to a successful professional career here.

In 2006, we bought a home in Israel, perhaps as a first step towards spending more of our life in Israel. More recently, as I considered winding down my professional life, Jeremy Corbyn became the leader of the Labour party. Many people both within and outside the Jewish community started thinking about their futures if he would have become the Prime Minister.

All these things came together to make it very sensible for us to become Israeli citizens, which we did just three months before the UK General Election in December, 2019. Although thankfully, Mr Corbyn did not win the election, making aliyah was one of our best decisions.

 

Israel Bonds: How many times did you visit Israel before making aliyah?

Melvin: For many years, we have visited Israel regularly to see family, especially, in more recent years, both to visit our daughter and because I was involved in a number of roles with UJIA.   I was also a non-executive director in London of a major Israeli bank.  When we were completing our aliyah application, we were asked to give details of our visits to Israel. I went to the relevant ministry, which gave me a detailed printout of more than sixty trips we had made in recent years.

 

Israel Bonds: What is the one thing you miss most about life in England?

Melvin:  More than anything, we really miss our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, who are so important to our lives. We also miss good friends, but I don’t miss London— although Sharman misses frequent pre-Covid visits to the theatre.  We still have a home in England, and I would never say anything bad about the UK.  It is a wonderful country of tolerance and fair play, and is also the country that welcomed my mother as a fifteen-year-old child as part of the Kindertransport. It is where I grew up, was educated and have had a good life—and where my children were born and brought up. It is also home to a special and strong Jewish community and I would suggest one of the most important Diaspora communities. 

But it is in Israel where I feel I have developed roots and a true sense of belonging. It is in Israel where, as a new immigrant, we have been welcomed. We all hear of resentment of immigrants in so many countries, but in Israel new immigrants are genuinely embraced.

It is consistent with my feeling that Israel is part of my core that I believe Israel Bonds to be so relevant. I believe that Israel bonds are so much more than just a financial product. They are a sign of loyalty and support which is why the state of Israel values the number of people who buy bonds at least as much as the amount they purchase. Today we have a strong modern state, with many friends and admirers and one or two detractors!  However, life is uncertain, and we cannot take anything for granted, which is a reason why Israel still enormously values its friends and supporters, and why we continue to want as many new Jewish and non-Jewish investor friends as possible.

 

Israel Bonds: What was the single most surprising thing or adjustment for you about life in Israel
as a citizen? 

Melvin: I mentioned how welcome new olim are in Israel. Even when you don’t get what you want, you still feel valued. When I called our insurance broker to say we now had Israeli ID cards and asked if we could have a discount on our premiums, he answered, “sorry, no discount. but welcome home!”

On the slightly more negative side, we see the political uncertainties and the strange electoral system. Having just voted for the first time (but for most Israelis, for the fourth time in two years), we are still no closer to a workable and stable government. However, this is all part of how we, as Jews, determine our own lives in a way that seventy-five years ago would have been unimaginable to our parents and grandparents.   

The thing that surprised me most was just how difficult it is living here without fluent Hebrew. When travelling and staying in hotels or going to restaurants in Tel Aviv – everyone speaks English. However, try getting your driving licence renewed or arranging your cable TV package in broken Hebrew!

 

Israel Bonds: What city did you move to – and why?

Melvin: We bought our flat in Herzliya Pituach back in 2006. We chose the area partly because it’s a very pleasant place and we had stayed in hotels here and it felt familiar to us.  It’s also because English is widely spoken here. We now feel very comfortable in Herzliya — it is like living in a village where everyone knows everyone else.

 

Israel Bonds: What advice would you give to someone considering their own aliyah?

Melvin: The advice I would give to anyone wanting to make aliyah is to understand that we are in the Middle East and if it’s possible, do it at eighteen or when you are ready to retire. If you come here at eighteen, you’re young enough to mould yourself into the very different culture and spirit of the fast-paced but different life.  If you choose to move to Israel at a later stage of life, it is a wonderful place to retire.