3,000 FRENCH JEWS SET TO EMIGRATE TO ISRAEL

3,000 French Jews set to immigrate to Israel (AFP/Lebanon Daily Star)
Around 3,000 French Jews are set to immigrate to Israel in 2007, the highest number in more than three decades, the Jewish Agency said on Monday. The organization said the number was the highest since 1971, when 3,281 French Jews came to Israel. Since the beginning of 2007, there has been a 10 percent increase in the number of new immigrants from France, as opposed to the same period last year with 1,027 French Jews having arrived up until end-June. Israeli head of state Shimon Peres is scheduled to welcome two flights bringing 600 new immigrants from France on Wednesday morning when they land at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. Since Israel acquired independence in 1948, around 80,000 French Jews have immigrated to the country.