In Paris, French Jews clamor for information on moving to Israel
January is normally a quiet month at the Jewish Agency for Israel’s offices in Paris. Normally, about 150 people per week register for JAFI’s information sessions about moving to Israel. But in the week since last Friday’s attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, 2,000 people have signed up.
“This doesn’t mean they’ll all immigrate, but it means the incident is having an effect,” said Daniel Benhaim, head of JAFI’s French branch. “Our switchboard is getting three times as many calls as on a normal day.”
JAFI, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry and other groups involved in French immigration are hesitant to predict what impact the attack will have. None is prepared to guarantee that January 2015 will be a turning point in the life of France’s Jewish community. But all expect French immigration to Israel this year to top the 10,000 mark, and to rise again in 2016. JAFI is even considering reopening absorption centers for French immigrants. And even the French government understands that if something doesn’t change fast, many French Jews are liable to leave.
Deborah Attali, 25, moved to Israel on her own a year ago. “I didn’t abandon France when I immigrated to Israel,” she stressed, as many other French immigrants do, too. “I liked my life in France, but I wanted to be here and be part of our history.”
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