[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A record number of French Jews moved to Israel this year, an immigration official said on Thursday, citing anti-Semitic violence and economic insecurity in the European country as causes.La Belle France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, having grown by nearly half since World War Two to some 550,000.
| A lot of that growth came from the immigration of Francophone Jews from France's former North African colonies and their subsequent offspring. |
Israel's quasi-governmental Jewish Agency, which encourages immigration, said some 7,900 French Jews had relocated to Israel in 2015, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
"Each has his or her reason, including the economic crisis, personal security, terrorist attacks, and, in some places and times, an anti-Jewish mood," agency front man Yigal Palmor said.
Though not final, the immigration figure falls short of Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky's prediction after the kosher market attack following the Charlie Hebdo
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A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...shootings in January that more than 10,000 French Jews would move to Israel this year.
Palmor said wider Jewish immigration to Israel reached a 15-year high in 2015, with around 30,000 new arrivals. He noted a high number of arrivals from economically troubled Russia and civil war-torn Ukraine.