FRENCH JEWS FLEEING TO ISRAEL

French Jews move to Israel in record numbers
Jewish immigration to Israel from France, where anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise, has reached its highest level in more than three decades, immigration officials said Tuesday.

The Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization, said 2,236 French Jews immigrated between January and the end of October 2004, up from 1,860 during the same period in 2003 and higher than the full-year figure for any year since 1972 when 2,356 French immigrants arrived.
France has experienced a recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents, coinciding with the four year round of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. French Interior Ministry figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the first six months of 2004, compared to 593 for all of 2003.

There has also been growing friction between the French Jewish community,which consists of 600,000 people and is considered the third-largest in the world, and France's Muslim population of almost 5 million.