World Jewish News

International Fellowship of Christians and Jews helps French Jews immigrate in Israel

More than 6,000 Jews from France have made aliayh to Israel since the beginning of the year, Avi Mayer, the Jewish Agency’s spokesman said as a group of several dozen new immigrants arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday, the first French Jewish newcomers to Israel since the terrorist attacks in Paris.

“After the attacks, people tried not to leave their homes, it was scary,” said Daniel Ventura, who arrived in Israel with his wife and two young girls, according to a press release by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which assisted in bringing some of the new immigrants.

“For two years we’ve lived with insecurity and wanted to make aliyah. I would not want my children to live, learn and get married in France,” he added.

Mordechai Ozen, another immigrant, said, "The streets are empty in Paris and there is heightened security near synagogues. I'm happy to return to Israel and my family here."

Over the weekend, IFCJ Founder and President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein said the organization would help any French Jew who wants to make aliyah.

At the same time, the organization announced it was expanding emergency security aid to French Jewish communal institutions.

The IFCJ said it has provided emergency financial aid to 25 synagogues and schools run by the Chabad Lubavitch movement across France, including in Paris and Toulouse, to beef up security by adding security guards and more sophisticated security systems.

The aid is part of more than $2 million the organization is sending to Chabad and other Jewish communal groups in dozens of countries to beef up security in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks and other threats.

EJP