Sara Unterberg is officially the oldest person to immigrate to Israel this year, making aliyah at the age of 100 as a birthday gift to herself – with the assistance of the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Explaining why she decided to make the move, the mother of three – who also has six grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, most of whom already live in Israel – said: “I realised I may not have much time left, and I want to spend it with my many grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Israel,” adding: “I believe all Jews should live in Israel. The world is becoming less safe for us.”
Born in Lithuania in 1925, Unterberg spent most of her life in Uruaguay – immigrating there with her mother at just 15 months old to join her father who had arrived some time earlier. “The truth is that Uruguay gave me everything since I was a child,” she said, “But what happened on October 7 and afterward only confirmed to us that our place is in Israel – and now Israel is welcoming me with open arms.”
Sara Unterberg is the oldest person to make aliyah in 2025[Missing Credit]
A much-loved figure in Uruguay’s small Jewish community – which is thought to number just over 16,000 people – Unterberg was a regular at both the Ashkenazi-founded community synagogue and the Sephardic synagogue in Montevideo.
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