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#France / Antisemitism and "Aliya" (immigration) and IDF's chronic manpower shortage

With war in Gaza, Israel faces new pressure to draft the ultra-Orthodox into service, but there are other sources to exploit.
The "Accompanying Olim" project is a recurring initiative, of the sort Israel rolls out whenever its faces international criticism, which it then exploits to stoke fears of a supposed rise in #antisemitism.

This particular iteration involves veteran immigrants from France guiding new arrivals from the same country (Israeli Minister of Immigration and Integration Ofir Sofer was in attendance.) https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/rjazehpka

The fact is that France's thriving Jewish community serves as a testament to the failure of Zionism, as well as the prudence of the luckiest Arab Jews who had a choice not to immigrate to Israel after 1948, sparing themselves from the institutionalized racism and marginalization, that impoverished those who had no choice but to settle in what was essentially a colony of Eastern Europeans claiming to have founded a home for all Jewish people.

Professor Sergio Della Pergola's research highlights important demographic trends among Jewish immigrant populations in Israel and France. His data shows that in the 1960s and 1970s, Jewish immigrants to both countries from Europe/USA and Asia/Africa had comparable professional distributions, with those arriving to Israel from either geographies being majority blue-collar workers and unskilled laborers, rather than academics or professionals.

However, the trajectories of these immigrant groups diverged substantially within Israel over time due to government policies that marginalized and disadvantaged Arab Jews. While arriving with similar socioeconomic profiles, a significant gap emerged, with Arab Jews facing systemic discrimination and barriers to integration.

מרגש: לוחם צה"ל הפתיע את הוריו במהלך כנס עלייה בפריז | צפו

הוריו של אלי ממו התבקשו לעלות לבמה בבית כנסת בפריז, שם הוקרן סרטון שבו הופיע בנם. כשהזמר יונתן רזאל החל לשיר, עלה הלוחם לבמה והפתיע את הוריו: "אין מילים. כמעט התעלפתי"

ynet