Another 5,000 French Jews have emigrated to Israel in 2016 – continuing a trend that has seen tens of thousands quit France after a series of attacks, Agence France Presse reported.
The startling update from the Jewish Agency of Israel came Monday as France marked two years since terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices and on a Jewish supermarket in Paris, where four shoppers were shot dead.
Daniel Benhaim, who heads the Israeli-backed group in France, told AFP insecurity had been a "catalyst" for many Jews who were already thinking of leaving.
The 5,000 departures in 2016 add to the record 7,900 who left in 2015 and 7,231 in 2014. In total, 40,000 French Jews have emigrated since 2006, AFP reported.
"The aliyah (the act of moving to Israel) of French Jews has been significant over the last decade," Benhaim told AFP.
The French Jewish community is the biggest in Europe and is thought to number around 500,000 people, AFP reported.
According to AFP, experts and members of the Jewish community in France say terror attacks, however, aren't the only reason people are leaving, with family, religious, and economic reasons also playing a role.
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