In Israel, Debate Over Whether French Jews Should Come — Or Stay Home
By William Booth and Ruth Eglash January 15 at 8:33 PM
In Israel, debate over whether French Jews should come or stay home
JERUSALEM Soon after four Jewish men were killed in a hostage-taking siege at a kosher market in Paris last week, the Israeli leadership leapt to offer refuge.
To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray; the state of Israel is your home, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
If a new wave of French Jews move to Israel, they will join what was a record 7,000 compatriots who made the journey last year. But that movement is already rekindling debate among Jews, who ask: Is it better for French Jews to come to Israel or stay home and insist that French society, including the countrys swelling Muslim population, accommodate them?
The debate comes with a contemporary twist: If Jews abandon France in large numbers, are they not doing just what Islamist extremists want ridding France of its Jews?
I think what we are seeing now is the old Zionism, the idea that the only place to be is Israel, said Smadar Bar-Akiva, executive director of JCC Global, an umbrella group of more than 1,000 Jewish community centers worldwide.
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