Since the onset of Israel’s invasion into Gaza, Jews in multiple European countries have been subject to anti-Semitic remarks and violent confrontations: eight synagogues in France have been attacked, Turkish Jews have been asked to apologize for Palestinian casualties, Greek media is increasingly delegitimizing the Jewish state, and an imam in Berlin has even prayed for the “destruction of the Zionist Jews” (via The Daily Beast). 

The practice of punishing any Jew for the purported offenses of all Jews is a classic anti-Semitic practice, and it evidently has not died out in 2014. Indeed, European Jews are being attacked precisely for the deeds of the Jewish state. Chief Executive Officer of the World Jewish Congress Robert Singer aptly summarized the anti-Semitic mindset in one sentence: “Jews in Europe are being seen as Israeli.”

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Such a view is directly contrary to the sentiments of European Jews, who have chosen to remain citizens of countries that have always been hostile to their presence, despite the fact that all Jews are welcome to immigrate to Israel at any time. The president of an umbrella organization representing French Jews, Roger Cukierman expresses that very sense of French identity when he stresses that the French government has a “duty” to protect them because “[they] are French citizens.”

The rise of anti-Semitism in Europe will ironically strengthen the Jewish state, as European Jews will have a greater incentive to emigrate. The Jewish Agency for Israel, which encourages Jewish immigration estimates that 5,000 Jews will leave France this year for Israel - the highest incidence of French Jewish immigration since Israel was founded in 1948.  

Reach Executive Producer Ashley Yang here, or follow her on Twitter.