Israel Begins to Welcome Surge in Aliyah from Gaza War
By: David Parsons, ICEJ VP & Senior Spokesman
The expected surge in Jewish immigration to Israel due to global fallout from the Gaza war is starting to happen, with the ICEJ currently preparing to sponsor Aliyah flights for Jewish families from France and South Africa, where concerns over violent antisemitism are all too real.
This week, the ICEJ committed to fund Aliyah flights for 100 Jewish immigrants coming from France over the next month or so, as well as up to 20 Jews who will be arriving soon from South Africa. The Christian Embassy looks forward to welcoming these olim (newcomers) home, but we will need the generous help of Christians worldwide to fund these flights and even more expected over the course of this year.
As often happens whenever Israel is thrust into a conflict with Hamas and other Islamist terror militias, waves of antisemitism are unleashed worldwide, producing in turn a fresh wave of Aliyah to the Jewish homeland. Over recent decades, France and South Africa have both witnessed this dynamic play out due to concerns over rampant antisemitism in these countries. Sadly, this is the case once more due to Israel’s war against Hamas terrorism in Gaza and on other fronts.
Since the brutal Hamas massacres last October 7, more than 7,000 Jews have moved to Israel despite it being a nation at war, and many more are anticipated over coming months. The Jewish Agency has given top priority to France, as Aliyah applications there have jumped over 500% since the war started in October. Antisemitic incidents there are up 1,000%, according to one recent report.
Israeli officials also are gearing up for a surge of Jewish immigrants from South Africa due to the government’s strident anti-Israel stand, especially the accusations against Israel of committing genocide in Gaza which the ANC-led regime is pursuing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
France
Since the year 2000, there has been a notable surge in Aliyah from France, which at the time was home to some 750,000 Jews. But with the Second Palestinian Intifada from 2000 to 2005 and numerous rocket wars with Hamas and Hizbollah since, radical Muslims began agitating against Jews across France, prompting many to move to Israel or other countries. Factor in the attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012, the Charlie Hebdo riots and Hyper Cacher supermarket siege in Paris in 2015, and the brutal murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017, and the Jewish exodus has only accelerated. Today, estimates are that only 500,000 Jews remain in France.
Many of those who are moving to Israel are not just concerned about antisemitism in France, but they also are attracted to life in Israel, the job opportunities in hi-tech and other professions, and just identifying proudly with the Jewish state and people.
It also is important to note that not all French Jews have the means to immigrate to Israel, as many come from struggling working-class Sephardi Jewish families who fled upheavals in North Africa several generations back.
The ICEJ started sponsoring Aliyah flights from France in 2010. Since then, we have assisted more than 4,000 French Jews in making Aliyah. The door is now open for Christians to help bring hundreds more French Jews back to their ancestral homeland, in keeping with Bible prophecies.
South Africa
The nation of South Africa also has seen a recent spike in Aliyah coinciding with the country’s genocide petition against Israel at the World Court of Justice in The Hague.
The ANC-led government’s openly strident stand against Israel also has fueled antisemitic incidents across the country. ICEJ representatives in South Africa recently witnessed this hostility while preparing to host a pro-Israel rally in Cape Town, where they were expecting about 3,000 Christians to come pray for Israel and the hostages still held in Gaza. But police called off the event due to the violent threats of an unapproved counter-protest by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who attacked several people and also clashed with police. One key instigator of the riot was Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, who is a convert to Islam. There was even a Jewish man in a wheelchair assaulted by the rioters.
Many Christians in South Africa are speaking out against the rising antisemitism and their government’s legal warfare against Israel, and they are earnestly praying for a drastic change in course for their country in the upcoming national elections.
Amid the tensions between the two countries, EL AL has decided to soon stop direct flights from Israel to South Africa, and there is even concern over a potential closing of Israel’s embassy in South Africa. Nonetheless, the Aliyah from South Africa will most definitely continue, and we need your help to bring more Jews home from this embattled community.
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The moment has arrived when we can help bring home more Jews from France, South Africa, and other countries where they are facing antisemitic threats. Please join with us in rising to the current challenge by supporting the ICEJ’s urgent Aliyah efforts