For over 40 years, Shelly Levine, founder and CEO of Tivuch Shelly Real Estate, has presented Israeli real estate to clients worldwide, selling thousands of apartments and helping build communities for her Anglo clientele. 

During that time, Levine has organized and participated in hundreds of housing fairs, community presentations, and private meetings across the United States, Canada, and England.

For most of those years, these events were welcomed as opportunities for prospective buyers to learn about life in Israel, find homes or investment properties, and strengthen their connection to the Jewish homeland.

Today, when she travels for these fairs, she finds herself on the front lines of the Israel-Arab conflict.

Never before has Levine experienced the kind of hostility that has emerged over the past three years.

What was once a straightforward real estate presentation is now met with aggressive demonstrations against Israel and the Jewish community, requiring heightened security measures.

During a recent visit to the New York Tri-State area to present Israeli housing opportunities to interested buyers, Levine was met with large-scale demonstrations. 

In Teaneck, New Jersey, she was forced to change locations at the last minute and hire private security to ensure a safe environment for herself and the attendees.

After decades of presenting Israeli real estate opportunities, helping families settle in established Anglo communities, and building new ones, she suddenly found herself facing demonstrations, intimidation tactics, and media scrutiny unlike anything she had encountered in her professional career.

Yet despite the protests, attendance remained strong.

“The people attending these events are not looking for conflict,” she said. “They are looking for information, options, and a connection to Israel. Many are thinking about their future and where they want their families to have a place to call home.”

Following the New Jersey event, things escalated. After several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted an event at Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, The New York Times published a particularly critical article about the event, highlighting Shelly Levine as the veteran representative.

Rather than report on the angry chants of “from the river to the sea” and “long live the intifada,” Levine felt the coverage lacked important context regarding the anti-Israel and antisemitic views expressed by many of the protesters.

Soon afterward came a wave of hateful messages on her social media accounts and company website.

The controversy followed her overseas to London, where she participated in another Israel property housing fair.

Event organizers instructed exhibitors not to market certain projects located in areas that could raise legal or political concerns under UK regulations.

Levine said she fully complied by covering the relevant projects on her display materials, keeping her brochures (which contained her contact information and a broad range of property listings) under the table, and did not present those locations during the event.

She said she provided a brochure to one individual who specifically requested her contact information and believes the interaction may have been part of an effort to ‘set her up.’

After the event, Levine was contacted by a Sky News reporter whose questions reflected what she perceived as several misconceptions about Israeli communities described as disputed or illegal.

During their conversation, Levine explained the history and legal status of several of these areas, noting that neighborhoods such as Ramat Eshkol and Givat HaMatos are recognized as part of Jerusalem.

After learning that the reporter had never visited Israel, Levine invited her to come as her guest, even offering to cover her travel expenses so she could see the communities firsthand and better understand the country’s history and realities on the ground.

According to Levine, what began as a tense conversation became a respectful dialogue, although she still disagreed with portions of the published article.

Sky News quoted Levine as saying: “Ma’aleh Adumim is not an expansion; it’s an urban renewal. It’s a 40-year-old city, not a new development. The project is knocking old buildings down and building new modern ones. They are not expansion settlements.”

Neither protests, intimidation, nor sensational headlines will deter Tivuch Shelly from its mission. For more than 40 years, Shelly Levine has helped thousands of families and investors turn their dream of owning a home in Israel into a reality, and that commitment remains stronger than ever.

As antisemitism continues to rise around the world, many of her clients, including children of Holocaust survivors, tell her they “see the writing on the wall.”

They recognize the importance of having a place to call home in Israel, whether for today, for their children, or for future generations.

There has never been a more important time to begin the conversation about owning property in Israel.

From Jerusalem and Netanya to emerging communities like Carmei Gat, Tivuch Shelly is committed to helping clients every step of the way, from the initial search to receiving the keys and beyond.

Whether making aliyah or investing in a future home in the Jewish homeland, her experienced team provides honest guidance, expertise, and personal attention.

For Shelly Levine, this has never been just about selling real estate. It has always been about helping Jews build their future in Israel. If the past three years have changed anything, it is not her mission; it is the urgency with which many families now approach it.

More and more clients tell her that owning a home in Israel is no longer simply something they hope to do one day.

In a world of rising antisemitism and growing uncertainty, they see it as a need rather than a want. And despite the hostility she now encounters, Levine remains committed to helping them make that future a reality.■

The writer is marketing manager at Tivuch Shelly. Learn more about the company: (02) 566-2499; www.tivuchshelly.com