![Some of 200 French Jews queue at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport before emigrating to Israel July 28, 2004. Some 2,500 Jews leave France for Israel each year but Wednesday's departure comes less than two weeks after [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] sparked a controversial call on French Jews to emigrate to Israel to escape what he called the 'wildest anti-Semitism'. Sign at rear reads: "I have two loves: Jerusalem and Paris". ??? NOTE: Some of the people in background may have been accompanying rel](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/09/RTXMSYC.jpg/RTXMSYC.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=bTGegQyp)
Over the past few days, news reports in France have been opening with a stunning statistic. According to current data, 1% of France’s Jewish population will immigrate to Israel this year. The total by year end is expected to reach 5,500 emigrants. This extraordinary number reflects growing fears among Jewish parents raised by reports about European jihadists, such as Mehdi Nemmouche, the Frenchman who attacked the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014. It seems that many of these jihadists have adopted Mohammed Merah as their proclaimed hero, the man who murdered three children in an attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012.
The new immigrants to Israel are fully aware that the French authorities are taking action against any and all manifestations of anti-Semitism and that they condemn anti-Semitism vociferously. At the same time, however, these immigrants also know that the authorities cannot protect every Jewish child. Merah and Nemmouche personify a combination of hatred of Israel and classic anti-Semitism. This vile combination is once again making Europe an uneasy place for Jews.
