As flights into Israel were canceled amid the threat of an Iranian attack, a special International Fellowship of Christians and Jews aliyah flight continued undaunted on Thursday, bringing over 150 French Jews to their new home in the Holy Land.
One hundred and forty-eight men, women, and children, seven babies, and one small dog waited through the extra layers of security with all their belongings at Paris’s Charles De Gaulle airport.
The excitement was tangible as the immigrants finally settled into their El Al seats.
Major airlines like Lufthansa had canceled flights into the country over concerns that the Iranian regime would retaliate over the alleged Israeli operation in Tehran that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, but the French olim (new immigrants) were defiant of the intimidation of threats.
The Maimon family said that they were not afraid of a potential Iranian attack. The Glick family of four said that it was better to come to Israel, Iranian threat and all, than to stay in France, where antisemitism had become normalized. The state of Israel would protect them.
The Glick family was set to live in Ashdod. They were nonplussed about the problem of Gazan rockets, confident that the IDF would also completely remove this threat. They sought to make aliyah to secure a future for their two children, whom they said would have greater prospects in the Jewish state.
“There’s no future for them in France,” said Glick.
The Maimon family also wasn’t leaving France because of rising antisemitism, but to realize a 20-year-long Zionist dream of living in Israel. They had been prevented from making aliyah in the past due to economic reasons but were finally ready to make the dream a reality. Three of their older children had been living in Israel since they had finished high school. Their eldest had served in the IDF and fought in Gaza, and would reunite with his parents freshly released from the military.
During the flight, IFCJ staff and Israeli immigration officers guided the olim through aliyah’s paperwork. With each final signature and adoption of Israeli citizenship, cheers and songs erupted along the aircraft’s aisle.
“Mazel tov!” Chanted the passengers.
The signing raised to a chorus as the plane drew closer to Israel, with the olim dancing in the aisle and waving flags.
“Am Yisrael chai!” They sang.
When the plane arrived
When the plane finally landed, a great cheer and applause went up through the plane.
The olim descended from the plane greeted by music and dancing youth group members. At a ceremony in the airport, a new immigrant was welcomed on stage to sound the symbolic ram’s antler shofar blast. Aliyah minister Ofir Sofer, World Zionist Organization chair Yaakov Hagoel, and IFCJ CEO Ayelet Shilo Tamir welcomed the immigrants as they set their first steps on Israeli ground as citizens.
IFCJ chairman Bishop Paul Lanier, who met with several of the families before they made aliyah and had accompanied them on the journey recalled how in ancient times pilgrims would sing songs as they ascended to Jerusalem.
“Over 150 people woke up in France today under threat of antisemitism and made their ascent today,” said Lanier. “I don’t know what they said in ancient times, but I say now “Baruch Hashem [blessed is god].” The Hebrew word aliyah for immigrating to Israel also means a spiritual ascent or going up.
Sofer said that it was exciting to see the new immigrants and that it was the duty of the nation to warmly receive them.
“People are coming knowing that their home is here and we in Israel need to receive them properly,” said Sofer.Hagoel said it was exciting to meet 154 new citizens, and predicted that by the end of the war thousands more olim would be greeted in such a fashion at the airport.
“We have a nation of heroes,” said Hagoel.
With the IFCJ flight, the number of French Jews that had made aliyah since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War exceeded 1000. The Jewish Agency and Aliyah Ministry said that over 7,000 new applications had been opened in France in 2024 compared to 1,200 the year prior. Since October 7, 24,000 people from around the world have made aliyah to Israel.
Thursday’s new immigrants from France left the airport to take residence in Netanya, Raanana, Hadera, Givat Shmuel, and Ashdod.) They sang.
When the plane finally landed, a great cheer and applause went up through the plane.
The olim descended from the plane greeted by music and dancing youth group members. At a ceremony in the airport, a new immigrant was welcomed on stage to sound the symbolic ram’s antler shofar blast. Aliyah minister Ofir Sofer, World Zionist Organization chair Yaakov Hagoel, and IFCJ CEO Ayelet Shilo Tamir welcomed the immigrants as they set their first steps on Israeli ground as citizens.
IFCJ chairman Bishop Paul Lanier, who met with several of the families before they made aliyah and had accompanied them on the journey recalled how in ancient times pilgrims would sing songs as they ascended to Jerusalem.
“Over 150 people woke up in France today under threat of antisemitism and made their ascent today,” said Lanier. “I don’t know what they said in ancient times, but I say now “Baruch Hashem [blessed is god].” The Hebrew word aliyah for immigrating to Israel also means a spiritual ascent or going up.
Sofer said that it was exciting to see the new immigrants and that it was the duty of the nation to warmly receive them.
“People are coming knowing that their home is here and we in Israel need to receive them properly,” said Sofer.
Hagoel said it was exciting to meet 154 new citizens, and predicted that by the end of the war thousands more olim would be greeted in such a fashion at the airport.
“We have a nation of heroes,” said Hagoel.
With the IFCJ flight, the number of French Jews that had made aliyah since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War exceeded 1000. The Jewish Agency and Aliyah Ministry said that over 7,000 new applications had been opened in France in 2024 compared to 1,200 the year prior. Since October 7, 24,000 people from around the world have made aliyah to Israel.
Thursday’s new immigrants from France left the airport to take residence in Netanya, Raanana, Hadera, Givat Shmuel, and Ashdod.
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