The Briton who helped 6,000 UK Jews move to Israel
A UK-born migration consultant has helped more than 6,000 Jews move to Israel over the past 15 years - much of it while working for an organisation that advertises migration to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.
As the number of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank rises, Israel-linked organisations help Jews from across the world to move there.
One of the most prominent organisations that advertises for illegal settlements and helps with Jewish immigration to Israel (also described as Aliyah) is Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN). Its website lists information pages about various illegal settlements, which include local "community contacts" for those interested in moving there.
NBN, for example, promotes the Israeli settlement cluster Gush Etzion, introducing various settlements within it. One of them is Tekoa. NBN promotes it by saying the population grew due to the "opening of a new road which bypasses Arab communities".
The Katzrin settlement in the Golan Heights is also advertised. NBN promotes it by saying it is "surrounded by breathtaking views", while omitting the fact that the settlement is located within illegally occupied Syrian territory.
NBN also promotes the West Bank settlement Elkana as a "well-situated community in the center of Israel", and describes the cluster of illegal settlements Mateh Binyamin as "one of the most beautiful regions in Israel". NBN fails to note that neither lies within Israel's internationally recognised borders.
To promote Mateh Binyamin, NBN added a webinar recording from 2021 to its information page, in which US-born settlers advertise to live there.
Pioneering effort
The page also introduces the settlement Mitzpeh Yericho. "If you want to be part of the pioneering effort to build up Eretz Yisrael [land of Israel], then Mitzpeh Yericho is for you!", NBN says, adding that most families "live in regular houses, while the rest live in temporary housing (mobile homes and eshkubiot [modular concrete units])." Mobile homes are frequently used by settlers to establish new outposts or settlements.
NBN also advertises for Shiloh, stating that there are "several construction initiatives" to "expand its borders". In this context, "expanding borders" would mean taking over Palestinian land.
'Israel survives and thrives
on Aliyah'-
Dov Newmark, consultant
How many internationals NBN helped move to illegally occupied territories remains unclear. But the information page for Efrat gives an insight, stating that "thousands of NBN Olim" are living in the illegal settlement.
Nevertheless, NBN claims the settlement information pages on its website are "for educational and informational purposes only" and that it "does not endorse, recommend, or promote any specific community". The terminology used by NBN does, however, suggest that the organisation views both the Golan Heights and the West Bank as part of Israel.
Nefesh B'Nefesh mainly helps Jews from the USA and Canada migrate to Israel. But it also used to operate in the UK, where the British-born Aliyah-consultant Dov Newmark appears to have run its British business. According to his LinkedIn, he was NBN's "Director of UK Aliyah" from 2009 until 2023.
"I was at Nefesh for 15 years. Amazing 15 years. Great organisation", Newmark told the British-Israeli podcaster David Goodwin in May 2024, adding that NBN made Jewish migration to Israel significantly easier: "Nefesh really put all the information together on one site, which was amazing."
says that during those years he helped over 6,000 Jews migrate to Israel. Whether he assisted any of them in moving to illegal settlements remains unclear - neither he nor NBN responded to MEE press inquiries.
It also remains unclear until when NBN operated in the UK. Newmark says the organisation pulled out around 2018. But a UK charitable company called Friends of Nefesh B'Nefesh Limited was formally dissolved in July 2024, with NBN listing a UK number on its website until 2021.
When contacted by MEE, a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office reiterated the UK's official position on the illegality of settlements, but did not comment on Newmark's activities in particular.
“The UK is clear that settlements are illegal under international law and jeopardise prospects for peace," they said.
“We oppose further settlement expansion and strongly advise against conducting any economic and financial activities in illegal Israeli settlements.”
'Make Aliyah easy'
Newmark says Aliyah was "always on the cards".
Having grown up in northeast London, he was active in Bnei Akiva during his youth. The Zionist Jewish youth organisation sees migration to Israel as the "ultimate expression of its ideology" and sends international Jews on gap year trips in Israel.
In 2008, Newmark, his wife and his three children moved to Israel, where they've been living in Modiin since.
After leaving NBN in 2023, Newmark started his own Aliyah consultancy business, Make Aliyah Easy, to help British Jews move to Israel. His services include Aliyah planning, relocation assistance and post-Aliyah support - all free of charge.
Instead of billing his clients, Newmark says he works with English-speaking service providers that pay him commission: "For instance, if you need a shipper, and you use my shipper, I'll get a commission. If you move money from the UK and use my currency converter, I'll get a commission".
MEE was unable to identify which service providers the Aliyah-consultant works with and whether any of them operate in occupied territories.
To promote his new business, Newmark organised informational webinars in collaboration with the Israeli organisations Yad L'Olim and Olim Paveway. He also ran a webinar with the UK shipping firm Stephen Morris, for which he invited Israeli realtors and experts to speak about the migration process, Israeli property markets and immigration benefits.
Newmark moreover held a webinar in collaboration with Raymond James, a London-based investment firm that offers "long-term financial planning advice for those making Aliyah".
Neither Newmark's adverts nor his online presence suggest that he helps British Jews move to illegal settlements. Publicly, all the communities he advertises for lie within Israel's internationally recognised borders. But a new collaboration raises questions.
Business partnership
In June 2026, Newmark announced a partnership with Shivat Zion, an Israeli organisation that - despite lacking registration with the UK Charity Commission - said it launched as "the UK's Only Free Aliyah Support Charity" in 2025.
In 2026, Declassified UK revealed that the organisation offered to assist a UK citizen with migration to a settlement, prompting calls for sanctions by two Labour MPs.
In response to the report, Shivat Zion uploaded a video of a representative claiming that the organisation works "under Israeli law". He failed to deny allegations that Shivat Zion helps internationals move to occupied territories and instead said: "If someone has decided on a specific city in Israel, we help them."
'There's always a spike in Aliyah after a conflict'
-
Dov Newmark, consultant
Israel regularly declares settlements in the West Bank as its national territory, thus making them legal under its national law. But this doesn't change the fact that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank - regardless of their legal status in Israel - are considered illegal both under international and British law.
Newmark publicly describes his relationship with Shivat Zion as a "partnership". The organisation, however, officially lists the Briton as a Senior Aliyah and Strategic Consultant for the UK on its website. It thus remains unclear whether Newmark is an employee, receives commission or works for Shivat Zion on a freelance basis.
It does, however, appear as though Newmark functions as the organisation's primary link to the UK - no other UK Aliyah consultants are listed on Shivat Zion's website.
The Aliyah organisation did not respond to an MEE press inquiry about its activities in the UK, its work in occupied territories or its partnership with Newmark. It also failed to take up the opportunity to publicly rule out helping people move to settlements within occupied territories.
BBQs on army bases
Despite working with organisations that have promoted migration to illegal settlements, Newmark seems proud of his work and eager to continue it.
"If you think about it, Israel is a country made up of Olim [immigrants]", the Aliyah-consultant told Goodwin. "Israel survives and thrives on Aliyah."
Newmark believes the State of Israel should be celebrated because "it didn't come easy". He also told Goodwin that his daughter was serving in the Israeli navy at the time of the interview, while he himself volunteered to help the Israeli army by going to army bases and cooking BBQs for its soldiers.
Although the Israeli army has committed well-documented human rights violations and has been accused of perpetrating genocide in Gaza, Newmark says he enjoyed being around soldiers: "You can see the determination in those soldiers to go in there and do what they need to do. They're so positive and the morale is so high, you can't help but be sucked into that positivity."
Newmark also believes the war on Gaza may lead to higher levels of Jewish migration to Israel. "There's always a spike in Aliyah after a conflict," he told Goodwin. "And this will be no different. There will be a spike. [...] And I'm excited to help people fulfil and realise their dream of moving and making Aliyah."