Another 5,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel last year, figures showed on Monday, continuing a trend that has seen tens of thousands quit the country after a series of attacks targeting the community.
The Jewish Agency of Israel issued the update as France marked two years since attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices and on a Jewish supermarket in Paris, where four shoppers were shot dead.
Daniel Benhaim, who heads the Israeli-backed group in France, said that insecurity had been a “catalyst” for many Jews who were already thinking of leaving.
The 5,000 departures in 2016 add to the record 7,900 who left in 2015 and 7,231 in 2014. In total, 40,000 French Jews have emigrated since 2006, according to figures.
“The aliyah (the act of moving to Israel) of French Jews has been significant over the last decade,” Benhaim said. The French Jewish community is the biggest in Europe and is thought to number around 500,000 people.
