The Israeli newspaper “The Jerusalem Post” revealed, in a report published on Wednesday, a secret plan by the Israeli government aimed at emigrating the Jewish community in Tunisia to Israel in light of the recent attack that targeted the Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, which claimed the lives of 6 people last Tuesday.
An Israeli official told the newspaper, “There is a secret plan for mass emigration from Tunisia, but it is not clear whether members of the Jewish community are interested in emigrating to Israel.”
The official explained that the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency responsible for the immigration file have been monitoring the serious threat to the Tunisian Jewish community for several months, adding that the community has been subjected to harassment by the local police and the press, in addition to a general atmosphere of anti-Semitism.
“We are working to monitor the situation with the Jewish Agency and with the Ministry of Immigration and Integration, trying to make an impact and trying to bring these Jews to Israel,” he told the newspaper. “The Jewish community agrees with internal reports that the Tunisian police were hostile to Jews in Tunisia,” he added.
“About a month and a half ago, in light of the tension in Tunisia, we held an emergency meeting with the Jewish Agency, where we agreed on a joint action that would help members of the Jewish community who wish to immigrate to Israel,” Amichai Shakli, the Israeli Minister of Expatriate Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism, wrote on Twitter. “.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, tweeted that “the shooting of the ancient synagogue in Djerba while hundreds of Jews are boisterously celebrating Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is another reminder of the urgent need for serious action against terrorism worldwide.” Smotrich added that he wished “to share the grief of the Jewish families in Djerba”.
In June 2020, the synagogue was subjected to another attack, in which two police officers were stabbed while guarding the synagogue, according to Agence France-Presse.
Tunisia has the largest Jewish communities in North Africa, since the Roman Empire, and their number currently ranges from less than 1,800 people.
