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600 French Jews make aliyah



More than 600 French citizens made aliyah Wednesday. The two flights, from Paris and Marseilles, were organized by the Jewish Agency for Israel and AMI, which promotes and supports aliyah from France.




Most of the olim were families, and their most popular destinations were Netanya, Ashdod and Jerusalem. A few young students moved to Tel Aviv, and a smattering of families moved to Eilat and Akko.





The flight from Paris included Moise and Louise Bettan, a 96-year-old man married to a 91-year-old woman, who made aliyah in their wheelchairs. The couple is moving to Netanya.




Gilles Taieb, president of AMI, noted that the flights were timed to coincide with Tisha B’Av. “Jews were kicked out of ancient Jerusalem, then were kicked out of Spain by the Inquisition, which also came on Tisha B’Av. Many of them left Spain and moved to North Africa,” he said. “Those Jews left to North Africa and moved to France and now, 2,000 years later, are moving back to Israel.”