For Jews From France, a Sociable Landing Spot in Israel

NETANYA, Israel — At one end of Independence Square, by the dancing fountain, French speakers sat at tables outside La Brioche, a patisserie owned by native Israelis, drinking coffee one warm afternoon this week and ordering from a window display of éclairs, colorful macaroons and mille-feuilles.

At the other end of the square, French and Hebrew speakers lunched at Chez Claude, a falafel and shawarma joint owned by French immigrants, where a stack of baguette rolls sat on the counter as an alternative to pita bread. By dusk this small patch of Netanya took on even more of a continental flavor as the outdoor cafes glowed with fairy lights and table candles. A plethora of real estate agencies advertised themselves with the French word “immobilier” and hair salons offered “coiffure.”

This Israeli city on the Mediterranean coast has long been a magnet for French-Jewish immigrants; its municipal website has branded it “the Israeli Riviera.” After this month’s wave of terrorist attacks in Paris, including one that claimed the lives of four Jews at a kosher supermarket, and with France’s Jews increasingly feeling threatened by anti-Semitism, Netanya is gearing up for a much larger influx.

“We are waiting for them,” said Debbi Dahan-Ben David, the owner of Chez Claude, who came from Paris with her husband and children 22 years ago. “This is our country,” she said, expressing a sentiment widely held by veteran immigrants and newcomers. “We have no other place.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/world/middleeast/for-jews-from-france-a-sociable-landing-spot-in-israel.html?_r=0