Record number of French Jews make aliyah in 2015 - but fewer than predicted

More than 8,000 French Jews have moved to Israel this year, according to a report by the newspaper 'Haaretz' which is based on the latest statistics from the Israel Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.​

Whereas in 2014 approximately 7,000 Jews moved from France to Israel - more than double the number of 2013 - it is estimated that the figure for 2015 will be at over 8,000, which is unprecendented.

However, figures for 2015 were initially expected to be much higher in the wake of the terrorist attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris last January. According to 'Haaretz' the initial forecasts were exaggerated.

France will again be the biggest source of immigrants to Israel, followed by Ukraine (7,000 in 2015, 6,000 in 2014).  

With an estimated Jewish population of 500,000, France is home to the third largest Jewish community in the world, after Israel and the United States.

Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze’ev Elkin told the newspaper that the total number of 'olim' coming to Israel in 2015 would be around 30,000, an increase of 13 percent over the previus year. “This will be a record high for the past decade,” Elkin told 'Haaretz'. “It is a window of opportunity that should not go to waste,” he said.