Knesset's Aliyah committee
Knesset's Aliyah committeeCourtesy of Moshe Friedman

The Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs estimated Wednesday that 10,000 Jews will make aliyah from France this coming year.

The estimates likewise anticipated 3,200 olim from the US, 7,000 from Russia, and 7,400 from Ukraine in continuation of the ongoing wave of Jewish immigration.

In 2015 a 15-year record of aliyah was broken as over 30,000 Jews made their way back to their ancestral homeland, but this year a further increase in that number is expected.

MK Avraham Negosa (Likud), chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, said on Wednesday that "we are tracking after the increase in anti-Semitism in Europe, and in parallel the preparations of the government ministries to absorb the olim."

"Absorption is a national mission, and a Zionist, social and economic window of opportunity for the Jewish people, the state of Israel and Israeli society," added Negosa.

European Jewish leaders told the Committee that Jews there face the influx of radical Islam on one hand amid surging numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants, and the backlash of nationalistic and often anti-Semitic European movements on the other.

Yogev Karsenti, director of the struggle against anti-Semitism at the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, said that last year broke records in terms of anti-Semitic assaults, with between 80% to 100% of the anti-Semitic attacks in Europe being conducted by Muslims. He noted that nearly all of the assaults were carried out by Muslims who were born and raised in Europe, as opposed to recent migrants.

Karsenti added that while Jews make up 1% of France's population, a full 63% of them have experienced anti-Semitism, and over half of them are considering emigration, with 43% saying they plan to make aliyah to Israel while 43% prefer the UK, Canada or the US.