French Jews Seek to Make Aliyah with The Fellowship

The Fellowship has received thousands of recent inquiries from French Jews seeking to go to Israel and expects that number to climb following Thursday’s terror attack in Nice. 

In June alone, we brought 82 Jews from across France to Israel, and, additionally, is preparing to bring more than 150 to Israel this month, including several Nice families. French Jews in this seaside city were attending a Fellowship aliyah meeting last week, just one one block from where a terrorist rammed a truck filled with munitions into a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day, in one of the country’s worst terrorist attacks. 84 men, women, and children were killed and many more were injured. According to media reports, two French-Jewish women, Clara Bensimon, 80, and her sister Raymonde Mamane, 77, were among five Jews wounded in the Nice attack.

The Fellowship has received over 5,100 requests from from French Jews inquiring about aliyah in recent months, and now Fellowship officials expect that number to climb amid the attack in Nice, the latest to strike France over the past year.

“We mourn for the victims of this despicable attack and pray for a speedy recovery for those who were hurt,” said Rabbi Eckstein. “Sadly, this horrific attack underscores the pressing need to help bring as many Jews who wish to leave France to their homeland in Israel, and this is what we will continue to do.”

The French-Jewish aliyah is part of The Fellowship’s global aliyah initiative to bring Jews facing economic and security threats to Israel. In recent months we havehelped over 2,000 Jews make aliyah, not only from France but also from other countries where Jews face anti-Semitic hatred and fear.

Several of the Jews leaving France with The Fellowship say they are escaping what has become an intolerable situation for the Jewish community. Some describe being afraid to wear yarmulkes outdoors or to display any other visible signs of being Jews, while others say they are growing increasingly concerned about anti-Semitic attacks.

This week an estimated 160 olim will fly to Israel on The Fellowship’s our emergency Freedom Flights. But we need your help to continue to meet all of the needs of desperate Jews hoping to escape to the Holy Land. You can help provide the gift of rescue and care with a Freedom Flight for desperate Jews.

Your gift will help fulfill biblical prophecy, as foretold in the book of Isaiah: “I will beckon to the Gentiles…they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders” (Isaiah 49:22). Please help provide lifesaving aliyah through our On Wings of Eagles program today.

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