..Y.B. watched Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in seething fury. “What’s he thinking?” Y.B. asked in a phone call to Israel. “That he can come like that to tell French Jews to come to Israel to vote Likud? France is my country. French is my mother tongue. I was born here, my children were born here, my grandchildren were born here. What’s this? Doesn’t he have any respect?” Y.B. and his wife live in a comfortable Paris suburb. He’s a master upholsterer and owns an upholstery factory; his wife keeps the books. Both were born in France to parents who came as children from North Africa, and neither ever heard any language at home but French. They’re connected to France with every fiber of their being. True, they have relatives in Israel. They’ve even visited a few times and enjoyed the sun and sea. But they found the cost of living off-putting. All their lives they’ve lived in a spacious rental apartment, and there’s nothing to stop them from growing old in it comfortably. If they ever considered moving to Israel, their modest savings wouldn’t let them buy a one-room apartment. But Y.B. and his wife aren’t considering any such thing, and there are hundreds of thousands of French Jews like them. Some, mainly the more secular, haven’t encountered anti-Semitism in their daily lives. Others say the anti-Semitism didn’t begin yesterday and isn’t a reason to pack their bags – and certainly not for Israel. And many were frightened by last summer’s missile attacks from Gaza, and many more, including some with relatives who have moved here (and in some cases have returned) are deeply suspicious of living conditions in the promised land. And what exactly is Netanyahu talking about when he proposes that French Jews move here en masse? What can Israel offer a citizen of this democratic republic that raises its children in a generous, varied, rich and universal welfare state? ...
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 08:16:42 +0000