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March 18, 2005/Adar II 7 5765, Volume 57, No. 29
French Jews ponder move to Israel
BRETT KLINE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
PARIS - Harry and Murielle Ouaknine are successful professionals in France, but they're thinking of giving up their life here to move to Israel.
"We always thought about moving to Israel, but the environment in France now has pushed us to find the courage to do it," Ouaknine said last month at a fair here, held to encourage immigration to Israel.
Ouaknine, a shipping broker and the father of two children, was gathering information about high schools in Tel Aviv.
He wasn't alone. An increasing number of Jews in France are contemplating a move to Israel. Nearly 4,500 people showed up at Aliyah Day last month, a huge increase from the 1,000 it drew in other years, according to the head of the Jewish Agency for Israel in France, David Roche.
Now a new group has been formed to help French Jews make the move to Israel.
Launched last week at a posh dinner at the Maison France-Israel, the AMI association will partner with the Jewish Agency in smoothing the process of immigration.
AMI stands for Aliyah Meilleur Integration, or better aliyah integration - the word "Ami" means "my people" in Hebrew and "friend" in French. AMI is modeled on the group Nefesh B'Nefesh, which sees its mission as "revitalizing North American aliyah to Israel."
French Jewish philanthropist Pierre Besnainou donated the group's initial budget, $1.5 million. The amount is modest by American standards, but "it is a pretty good start," said AMI's director, Alex Moise. "And of course we have plans for fund raising."
Two projects already are on tap. In one, AMI would help students get help from ongoing, privately funded financial aid programs - young French students studying in Israel can get Aviv grants, and French high-school seniors can get funding for trips to Israel at Chanukah.
The second project is new. AMI is setting up low-cost intensive Hebrew-language classes for families waiting for their departure date. The Jewish Agency, AMI and other groups fund it.
At AMI's launch, a 45-page report on French tourism to Israel was released. It included some startling figures.
At least 100,000 French Jews came to Israel as tourists in 2004, almost one-fifth of the Jewish population of France.
Seventy percent of French Jews are Sephardic. Either they or their parents tend to come from Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco. The rest are Ashkenazic, usually from Eastern Europe.
Of the 15- to 18-year-olds polled, three quarters say they do not see a future for themselves in France, and half have suffered from some form of anti-Semitism in the last five years.
"You can't imagine how many Jewish teenagers are talking about leaving for Israel, " said Rebecca Cohen, 17.
France's chief rabbi, Joseph Sitruk, has even offered a blessing to Jews making aliyah. "Nobody is running away from France. People create their own spiritual conditions for going," Sitruk said.
A report from the French Interior Ministry in December said that racist violence, including anti-Semitism, had increased by more than 70 percent in 2004, with 194 reported acts and 711 threats, compared to 112 acts and 418 threats over the same period in 2003.
Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sparked an argument with France after he urged all French Jews to leave the country immediately to avoid what he called "the wildest anti-Semitism."
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