Moments before stepping on to the Tel Aviv-bound plane at Heathrow on Monday, Sabrina Ziff told TJ how the family tragedy and the recent conflict with Hamas moved her to take the dramatic step.

"Losing my uncle really crystallised for me how short life is," she said. "This was a wake-up call for me."

Ziff's uncle, Jean Relevy, 68, was killed last July whilst sitting in his car in Jerusalem, after an Arab construction worker went on the rampage in a bulldozer. The attack in Jaffa Street also claimed two other lives and wounded over 45 others.

"It was the first time that terrorism had affected me directly," she said. "My uncle did nothing wrong, he was completely innocent. It made me think: 60 years ago we were given this country of our own, we used to have a place to call home - so what am I doing here in England?"

On Monday, the 30-year-old, who owns a property management and inventory company, flew to Israel with her husband, Lloyd, and daughters Natalya, nine, Tamara, six and Stephanie, four, on a flight organised by Nefesh B'Nefesh in co-operation with the Jewish Agency.

"I joined an aliyah agency in 2005, but kept putting it off," she recalled. It was on the back burner, I kept thinking 'It's not so bad here.'
"But after my uncle died, some friends made aliyah and four days later the Gaza war started.

"I was moved by everyone's support, but shocked by how we were perceived here," she said. "At that point I knew I wanted to go home. I didn't want my daughters to grow up here."

Ziff admits that it was a difficult decision for the family to leave their home in Edgware and say goodbye to her siblings, who all live in London. But the family are excited to move to Ra'anana, to take advantage of the close-knit community life and proximity to the beach.

"What I love about Israel is that when you walk in the street everyone is Jewish and knows each other," she said.

"I also want to get in touch with all my aunts and uncles in Israel who I haven't seen for 12 years, to build bridges again and reunite the whole family. My uncle's death has definitely been the turning point for this move."