Why aliyah to Israel for many old Jews just isn't an option

As I sit in the comfort and security  of my home in the South West of the UK, I am still reflecting on the two Jewish men who were stabbed two Jewish pedestrians in Golders Green, an area that, for as long as I can remember has been one of the most iconic area for both secular and haredi Jews in London.

Shortly after the attack inevitable  platitudes came out in force from politicians of all persuasions who condemned the acts of violence in time-honoured meaningless words. The government spokesmen spoke of their shock as to what had happened whilst serving up a good mix of “word salad.”

And guess what - nothing has really changed

Condolences without action

So many politicians’ “hearts went out to the Jewish community,” to such an extent that now, a couple of weeks later, I am forced to consider how they even  managed to catch their breath between their slippery banalities. “They all felt our pain,” though we saw none writhing in agony.

Virtually every one of these political hyenas wanted us to know “words are not enough,” though none suggested any practical solution  to ease  community fears and the ever insipid British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who has consistently shown himself incapable of doing anything that might directly confront Muslim voters, or criticize any country other than Israel has now shown he could not be bothered to travel the 6 miles from Downing Street to Golders Green

Instead he ordered a Cobra security meeting where they sat around and chatted about the problem of Jews under attack. After all, after a comfortable chat comes a time for reflection, closely followed by a Cabinet Committee where they can submit a report to some nameless Select Committee, who will will question witnesses from a range of NGO's with no conclusive solutions ever being put on the table.

Meanwhile, Starmer will not grasp any nettle that needs grasping lest he offends anybody because he so terrified of being decisive in case a "stalking horse" comes forward to challenge his leadership.

At the same time, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told those who bothered to listen that he was “angry” and “appalled,” then, while feeling our pain, returned to Spain to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and discuss their shared views on Gaza

Is it any wonder that while so much passionate disinterest was taking place, many Jews started asking whether now is finally the time to make Aliyah. Is this the time to return home.

But herein we have the core problem - and it has become the problem that remains the elephant in the room and no-one is talking about it. Unless you have plenty of money, a well-paid job, or a good pension, moving to Israel is not an option.

Cost of living in Israel

We know there is a significant cost-of-living crisis in Israel, with roughly 2 million people, or ~21% of the population, living below the poverty line, including high rates of child poverty and food insecurity. It is now also common knowledge there has been a disturbing rise in food insecurity and financial struggles, with about 28% of Israeli households unable to meet all monthly expenses and 1 in 4 children live below the poverty line.

Additionally, data shows utilities average roughly 935 shekels per month (£230/  $310) and food is generally 21% higher than the richest European nations, with high prices for dairy and staples.

Now, of itself this is a matter of concern but not necessarily critical if an immigrant is fortunate enough to have a high salary, substantial investments and savings or a really good pension.

Socioeconomic status of Jews

However, data from the Office of National Statistics (UK) shows that roughly 40% of the Jewish population in the UK are, on average in receipt of a median or below income each month, and that roughly 3,000 Jewish children were classified as living in poverty, while in the US, 15% of Jews live below the poverty line and 26% reported difficulties paying for necessities like food or medicare. 

Put into a more accessible manner, data suggests in the UK, 9,000 Jews are almost certainly living in poverty, while in the USA this could be as high as 1.1 million people

Financial support

Of course, cynics would argue that potential immigrants would be able to access financial support to allow a move to Israel and I would have to agree. As I understand it, a couple wishing to make such a move would be able to access the "Absorption Basket" allowing eligible claimants to access up to £12,500 ($16,4000 during the first six months of residency plus possible free flights to Israel. However, this aid is only for the first six months then aid ends. So, unless a couple can secure an annual income of between £24,000 to £40,000 ($32,000 to 54,000) they are almost certain to be on or below the poverty threshold and likely to be in much worse financial position than they were before immigration.

Older people

Those above pension age are most likely to be living on a fixed income ie a state pension. For UK citizens this averages at a maximum of £12, 000 (and anything up to $36,000 for US citizens) per year, meaning that unless the older person has one or more private pensions they are unlikely to have sufficient money to survive. This, pf course, may be offset for some by the Israeli social security system who, in certain circumstances, may supplement any income if the claimant is eligible.

For British citizens in particular this is highly problematic as, even with a full state pension there would be insufficient to live on and they would not be eligible for supplementary a UK pension credit.

In most countries, but the UK in particular there has been a long history of significant deprivation amongst our older population and never has this become more clear than when exploring how older Jews living on a severely limited income may be disenfranchised from fleeing to Israel if ever the need arose.

Healthcare

As many will know, the Israeli healthcare system is a mandatory public/ private hybrid that provides universal coverage where about 20% of spending is out of pocket expenses including co-payments for visits to consultants, medication and imaging, As a consequence, currently nearly 6% of Israelis face catastrophic health spending and we can legitimately assume that senior immigrants without significant private pensions could easily become part of this group,

Additionally, we cannot afford to ignore those who are elderly and infirm, as well as our disabled. For some a flight to Israel is something far beyond their physical ability, while for others, disability creates so many problems as to make immigration an impossibility. And of course, there are also rare occasions where the Ministry of Interior can block immigration, so, in many respects the issue of aliyah for older people is something of a health minefield.

Political comment

For many the notion of making aliyah is not an option if life deteriorated in their current location. British or US Jews living in poverty would have neither the wherewithal to make the move, nor the income to support themselves in Israel after six months. 

The only choice available to them is to bring about effective change; For these people there is no other option and, what surprises me is how this point is never made. All too often we hear Jews saying 'well, if it gets really bad we'll just go to Israel', as if this is an option for everyone. But nobody talks about what happens to our poor, or weak, our disabled and our elderly. Where do they go if the pogroms were to start? Where are they to go when the synagogues are burned or the Jewish schools are forced to close? Are they expected to stay? Are they the ones we sacrifice?

It is a question no-one is asking and someone needs to. Remember, right now nobody is doing anything to end antisemitism and with nothing being done, we must assume that it will get worse. And if it gets worse what happens to those we, in our blind ignorance choose to leave behind.

Slinging out the elderly with the trash

Perhaps it’s because I’m closer to needing services for the elderly that I’m pretty horrified by reports today from the Health Services Ombudsman that provision is failing to treat older people with care, dignity and respect. I’m not sure why I am surprised, because I remember forty years ago going into a care home and being pretty appalled by the treatment I saw.

Even then nurses and care workers talked to elderly patients with that condescending and patronising lilt. You might have come across it yourself:

“How are you today … dear.” Not even my wife calls me dear, so by what right do you, a seventeen year old girl, have to call me ‘dear’. I am not your ‘dear’; I am a person who has earned, through years of hard labour, the right to respect.

“Now come on Annie, you really should eat you dinner – it will do you good.” No it won’t. It is hospital food. The cabbage has been boiled for over an hour and has the consistency of limp seaweed; it tastes like the algae from a brickworks lake and has the same colour as my fingernail. The chips are soggy and cold and the pie feels like it has been heated under the steamer on an espresso machine.

“Hello John, how are you today?” Which we all know is really shorthand for - “Good grief John, haven’t you had the decency to die yet? I’ve had this room booked for nearly two months and I do wish you’d get on with it.”

What about the entertainment care homes offer the elderly? Why do we assume they all enjoy tea dances, singalongs and bingo. Now readers I have a favour to ask all of you. If ever I have the misfortune to develop dementia, I want you all to promise me that before I have to play bingo, you will jointly and mutually euthanise me. As for the singalongs? Why do they assume that because you are old, you know songs from the Second World War? Not sure about the rest of my contemporaries, but I know the lyrics to a few Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones songs.I could even croon “Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas if you give me a bit of notice, though I suspect younger readers might be shocked by an oldtimer warbling a few curse words.

Old people aren’t looking for special privileges. They don’t want to be treated as special and different, but they do feel they have a right to respect – is that so awful? Is it so terrible that a woman in her seventies should have the right to undress in private, instead of having care assistants staying in the room, staring at her? Is it so bad a man, who has worked in a factory for over forty years, should feel it unjust that when he rings a bell for attention because he is in pain, no-one comes, or if they do, he feels a burden.

What is it about western society that degrades our elderly in this way? In eastern cultures older people are revered and respected. Here in the UK we see them as a nuisance.

You know something? A couple of years ago I was doing some research into problems facing older carers and I saw something I thought I would never see in a civilised society. I came across a woman in her late seventies who had a forty-four year old daughter with severe learning difficulties. The older woman had no support from external carers – she did all the work herself, even though she had quite severe heart problems. On my visit, I watch this wonderful old woman lift her fully grown daughter out of her wheel chair and carry her to a nearby sofa. I would guess the daughter would have been about 90lbs – certainly more than you would want to lift at that age. She never grumbled, because for her it was a joy to look after her daughter, even though caring was probably killing her. Can we truly say that, as sons and daughters, we would do the same for our parents, or grandparents?

She proved something to me though – older people are strong and resilient and can and do regularly cope with strife, difficulties and problems. They are talented and ingenious in their tactics for coping with the ardours of life and problems the system places upon them.

But there is more that could and should be done. If we ignore the needs of the elderly, we are not only dismissing part of our society, we are saying something about ourselves. Let’s face it, the message we are sending out is that people are disposable and once you go passed your ‘sell-by date’, you have no use.

To my mind, it’s no way to treat people and no way to lead a society.