As more French Jews face anti-Semitic attacks, many are leaving for Israel. Most of the attacks have come from Muslims, whether immigrants or French-born, many of whom have not assimilated into French society – if not rejecting French society entirely. Compounding the dangerous situation, France’s left-wing government refuses to acknowledge the scope of this crisis, apparently more afraid of losing Muslim votes they depend on than in defending France’s half-million Jews.
Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption is expecting “Little Paris” neighborhoods to pop up all over Tel Aviv, Netanya, and Jerusalem. According to the Jewish Agency, French Jews have become the number-one immigrant group to Israel. In 2014, more than 7,000 French Jews emigrated, twice the number from 2013. Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver said she expects about 10,000 new French immigrants next year.
That’s an astounding 20,000 French Jews moving to Israel, or four percent of that community emigrating in just three years.
Further, a poll conducted the Paris-based Siona organization of Sephardic French Jews found that 74 percent of the 3,833 respondents are considering leaving France.
It’s more accurate to say that French Jews are fleeing France rather than just moving to Israel. The failure of multiculturalism and the inability of many Muslim immigrants to assimilate into French society have promoted intolerance of Jews.
Attacks on Jews have risen since the early 2000s, with well-publicized assaults beginning in 2003 when a popular Jewish French DJ was slain by members of a Muslim youth organization. Since then, attacks on French Jews have rapidly increased, including the 2012 murder by a Muslim extremist of a rabbi and three children. Last year, Jews were targets in high-profile hate crimes including when four Arab men beat a Jewish man on at a Paris Metro station. Several other incidents occurred last year, including a pro-Palestinian protest attacking Jewish owned stores in Paris, with chants of “gas the Jews” and “kill the Jews.”
Despite The New York Times linking anti-Semitism in France to the growing success of the Front National – a right-wing French political party Marine Le Pen, President of the Front National, has condemned anti-Semitism in France. She criticized her own party, and even gone so far as rebuking her father for his controversial statements about French Jews.
The rise of anti-Semitism is a crisis of the left. From promoting mass immigration from Arab nations without assimilation to refusing to tackle the realities of anti-Semitism in the Muslim community, French socialists have made this situation far worse.
In his New Year’s Eve address, President Francois Hollande stated he intends to fight anti-Semitism and racism in 2015. His address, however, was smoke and mirrors – a platform to attack the Front National. He didn’t reference the growing hatred spewing in Muslim communities. Instead, he asserted that France must not succumb to fear and stay in the Euro zone.
There are no serious plans coming from the left to tackle the crisis on France’s door because they cannot afford to alienate their base of voters. And until Hollande is either voted out or seriously confronts the truth about France’s ethnic and religious tensions, more French Jews will call Israel their new home.
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