"That a record number of European Jews feel that Europe is no longer
their home should alarm European leaders and serve as a wake-up call for
all who are concerned about the future of Europe." -Natan Sharansky
(Israel)—A
record number of Jews made Aliyah to Israel from Western Europe in 2015
due to a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, according to the Jewish Agency
for Israel. (Photo: Motti Kimchi/via YNET News)
Most of the Jewish immigrants from Western
Europe—about 8,000 among 9,880—have moved to Israel from France, where
this week the head of the Jewish community in the city of Marseille
urged local Jews to avoid wearing a kippah in public following an attack
on a Jewish teacher by an Islamic State-inspired Muslim. The teacher
was wearing a kippah when he was attacked.
France has the largest Jewish community in
Europe—about 500,000 people. Due to increasing anti-Semitic attacks and
harassment, most often by radical Muslims, Jewish institutions in France
are heavily guarded. French officials say more than 50 percent of all
reported racist attacks in the country in 2014 were directed against the
Jewish community, the Associated Press reported.
Elsewhere in Western Europe, nearly 800
Jews have immigrated to Israel from the United Kingdom, with significant
Aliyah also coming from the Jewish communities of Italy and Belgium.
"That a record number of European Jews feel
that Europe is no longer their home should alarm European leaders and
serve as a wake-up call for all who are concerned about the future of
Europe," said Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, who added, "At the
same time, the fact that Israel has become the number one destination
for European Jews seeking to build a better future elsewhere is a
tribute to the appeal of life in Israel and the values the Jewish state
represents."
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Source: www.breakingchristiannews.com/