Joseph Moses, has given up his job at the Board of Deputies where he was among those battling against the boycott of Israel. Instead, he is heading for a new life in Israel - as one of the hundreds of British Jews making aliyah this year.
"It's always been in the back of my mind," he said. "I was raised with a strong Zionist background."
Mr Moses, 24, was one of the guests at a reception held by Israeli ambassador Daniel Taub for new olim and Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organisation shlichim.
Of all the functions he has hosted, the ambassador said, "without doubt, this has to be the most moving for us". It was around 25 years ago that Mr Taub himself, with his wife Zehava and their six-month old son, set off from the UK for Israel.
For all the talk of rising antisemitism, most of the olim cited positive reasons for going. "I am not running away from anything," Mr Moses said. "I love England and believe that Jewish life in the UK will continue to thrive."
Accountant Alan Levenson, 26, said it was the appeal of "being part of something bigger and more meaningful" that was taking him, his wife Miriam and baby daughter Gila to Israel. The family belong to Alei Tzion Synagogue in Hendon. "A lot of young couples join the shul, stay a couple of years and then go to Israel," said Mrs Levenson. "A lot of our friends are going."
Retired Cardiff couple Alan and Esther Cohen, who have two children in Israel, said they were finally making the move they had long considered.
The fast of the Tishah b'Av, observed a few weeks previously, had marked the exile of the Jews, the ambassador said, saluting his visitors. "We are recognising a group of people who are repairing that tear that was created 2,000 years ago."