Most French immigrants find Israel to be different from what they imagined it to be, unlike promotional material filled with colorful descriptions distributed by the Jewish Agency. But the moment a prospective immigrant steps into the Jewish Agency office in Paris, the first unease may set in. There they encounter red tape and guarded clerks who make the aliya candidate go through a detailed investigation. But at that point the immigrant is still excited and eager to set out, not seeing the drab, frosty office as a harbinger of the difficulties he will face in Israel.
"The hard part is not making aliya, but staying in Israel," one new immigrant told Actualite Juive. "For me making aliya was natural, since I come from a religious and Zionist family. But when I arrived eight years ago, I was in shock. I felt like a foreigner and started to wonder whether it was worthwhile and whether I would ever be integrated." He held out and remained, but he is still not Israeli — not in his own eyes and not in the eyes of others.
Immigrants sometimes suffer from discrimination. Those who give up and move back, especially if they are young, are liable to feel a sense of abhorrence due to the unpleasant memories they bring back. A failure to integrate can lead the would-be immigrant, once back in Europe, to make provocative remarks against Israel.
Many of the anti-Zionist activists in France and Britain are Zionist Jews who moved to Israel, were disappointed and returned full of bitterness. Michel Warshawsky, the son of the former chief rabbi of Strasbourg who tried making aliya, was religious but after becoming a Zionist burnout he wound up joining a far left organization called Matzpen, and today he goes from one Arab suburb to another giving lectures full of anti-Israel diatribes. British historian Tony Judt, who attacks Israel in New York, spent six months in Israel as a kibbutz volunteer. Esther Benbassa of Paris, who calls herself a "historian," regularly incites against Israel and the Jewish community. She made aliya from Turkey and returned seething with hatred.
The long list of frustrated Zionists has led the Jewish Agency to alter its approach. An organization funded by Jewish billionaire Pierre Besnainou works to ease integration. Director Tzvi Zana says integration takes place in stages, because immigrants do not become Israeli overnight. In the initial stage the immigrant finds the community of emigres from his home country in Israel.
Today an immigrant from France can live and work in Israel and continue to speak French, preferring to start off being a French Jew in Israel, living within the French community just as he did in France. But he must be prepared to tighten his belt and lower his living standards, compared to what he was used to in France.
Another type of aliya is known as "Boeing aliya." The family makes aliya, while the father continues to work in France, flying back and forth. Every year 50 families that meet this description make aliya. The Jewish Agency organizes "red carpet aliya." The immigrants stepping off the plane are received like heads of state, and are whisked straight to a lavish hotel to ensure their first few hours in Israel are free of untoward experiences. Still, 7-9 percent of French immigrants eventually return to France.
Chareidi immigrants also encounter difficulties adjusting, but they face challenges of a different sort. Because their goal is to live fully Jewish lives in the Holy Land, they are able to tolerate more. French chareidim come from strong chareidi kehillos, but have trouble finding the right school for their children and the communal structures they are accustomed to. Most of them join kollelim and yeshivas, where they learn and advance in ruchniyus.
