Eli Barnaby, former Israeli ambassador to France, who has
just finished his term in office, has defamed orthodox Jews
in an interview in Le Monde, saying: "[They are] like
peripheral factions, living their Jewish religion as
separatists." In France the term "separatist" has overtones
of terrorism and political violence. Such a serious
accusation feeds the incitement against the Jews in
France.
Immediately after finishing his term as ambassador, Barnaby
published a book, A Letter to the Jews in France, in
which he accuses them of blind support for Israel, fostering
fantasies about anything happening within Israel and
subservience to its government. "This is a Zionism of
despair. I call them to join a new Zionism, to less
subservient ties."
Barnaby, a left-wing irreligious Jew, was completely cut off
from the center of the Jewish community, of which the active
majority is at the very least traditional and connected to
Israel. His relations while in office were limited to the
wealthy non- religious Jews. He says that he felt out of
place during his visits in the religious communities in the
villages and suburbs. "Any place I visited in France, I saw
these types of Jews and heard them speak. It is a trend,
which attracts Jews, especially the youth. Thirty years ago
there were many Jews in the Zionist youth movements. Today
only Beitar remains and the youths in the movement wear
kippot even though its founder was an irreligious Jew.
For most of the French Jews, Israel is Utopia, a fantastic
delusion."
In his letter he expressed "concern for the digression to
isolationism which threatens the Jewish community." The
French papers were very pleased with this scoop and published
choice sections from his book. In an interview Barnaby says,
"As far as I am concerned, the religious communities are not
in the center but in the extreme periphery, where extreme
Judaism is developing in a separatist manner."
According to an opinion poll commissioned by the Jewish
organization Fond Sociale Juive, the traditional Jews who go
to orthodox shuls -- the "separatists" according to
Barnaby -- represent 51 percent of the community. The
chareidi Jews are 5 percent and the irreligious 29 percent.
42 percent said they keep kosher and 26 percent of the
students learn in Jewish schools. The Fond Sociale Juive
stressed that the return to Judaism does not "point to a
retreat into separatism within Judaism." "The Jews are happy
in France," says the president David Saada.
The opinion poll, which interviewed 1132 families, shows that
French Jewry is distancing itself from the non-religious.
Arik Cohen, who arranged the research, says that the Jewish
community has been absorbed by the French society but feels
concerned and disconcerted. The Ashkenazi Jews are
disappearing. The Sephardic Jews make up 70 percent of the
community and the Ashkenazi Jews 23 percent.
Part of the community has been lost despite the strengthening
of Judaism. The rate of intermarriage is at 40 percent. Only
6 percent express the intention of making immediate
aliya. Many Jews have family in Israel. On Sunday the
French village in the suburb in Lan Malin, in the presence of
the mayor, held a memorial ceremony for Alexander Ducan,
originally from the village, who was killed in the Chevron
ambush.
