Aliyah Minister urges Israel to prepare for wave of French immigrants as student protests intensify

France experienced what was described as a “day of rage” on Tuesday, which was expected to mark the peak of clashes that had unfolded across the country in recent days.

Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer said during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that Israel should prepare a plan to absorb a potential mass wave of immigration by French Jews amid unrest that has erupted across France in recent days, according to two sources who attended the meeting.

“We need to remove the barriers in order to allow them to come here,” Sofer said, adding that the plan should also be designed to assist less affluent members of France’s Jewish community.

France experienced what was described as a “day of rage” on Tuesday, which was expected to mark the peak of clashes that have unfolded across the country in recent days. Confrontations between protesters and police were reported in several parts of France.

The student protests began last week, when students at hundreds of schools, particularly in poorer working-class suburbs such as Saint-Denis outside Paris, began blocking school entrances, obstructing roads, setting garbage bins on fire, and attacking police officers and passersby.

Critics of the protests have accused the far-left La France Insoumise party, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a staunchly anti-Israel politician, of inciting violence and fueling the unrest. They have also pointed to the involvement of immigrants and the children of immigrants in the street violence.

Record-breaking number of French Jews make aliyah

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said during the cabinet meeting that funding should be allocated to help economically vulnerable immigrants, as well as to various housing projects intended to accommodate an expected wave of immigration.

This year has already seen a record number of immigrants from France, with nearly 4,000 French Jews making aliyah, 40% more than the number who immigrated to Israel last year.

“We need to do this,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the ministers.

Netanyahu asked Smotrich, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, and Sofer to prepare a joint plan.

During the cabinet meeting, National Missions Minister Orit Strock said Israel should also prepare for the possibility that protesters could begin targeting Jews.

“The people behind these protests are anti-Jewish and anti-Israel elements. Jews are currently afraid to walk around France displaying Jewish symbols. The prime minister must act now vis-à-vis France and prepare an emergency plan to protect those Jews,” Strock said.