Ten Tunisian Jews have moved to Israel because of the instability following the popular uprising in their home country, an Israeli official said Jan. 19.
The Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental body that handles immigration, said the Tunisians arrived in Israel on
Jan. 18 and had requested citizenship.
Last week, a popular uprising ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power. Officials say 78 protesters and civilians died in the protests that forced Ben Ali to flee the country, many of them killed by police bullets. Looting and random violence have continued.
Although Jews have not been targeted, Israeli leaders have expressed concern for the safety of the 1,500-member community, which is concentrated on the island of Djerba and in the capital of Tunis.
There has long been a slow trickle of Jewish immigration from Tunisia to Israel, but the number of new arrivals
Jan. 18 was unique. Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz said just 16 Tunisians immigrated in all of 2010.
In addition to the 10 who plan to stay permanently in Israel, 10 other young Tunisian Jews arrived this week for a previously scheduled study program, he said.
About 1,000 Jews, the majority of Tunisia’s Jewish community, live on the island of Djerba, where Jews have maintained a historical presence for more than 2,000 years. Another 400 Jews live in Tunis, the capital, with much smaller communities in Zarzis, Sfax and Sousse.
Most of Tunisia’s Jews, who numbered around 100,000 some 80 years ago, left between the 1940s and the 1960s, fleeing a wave of violence and persecution that followed Israel’s establishment. Around 800,000 Jews were forced from their homes in Arab countries in those years.
Most Tunisian Jews went to France and Israel. While the tiny Tunisian Jewish community’s ties with the Muslim majority are generally good, a 2002 al Qaida suicide bombing targeting a synagogue on Djerba killed 19 people, including 14 German tourists. Tunisia’s population of
9.5 million is nearly all Muslims.
Silvan Shalom, an Israeli Cabinet minister and vice prime minister born in Tunisia, expressed concern this week that Islamist groups could take advantage of the chaos, and said Israel was following the situation in the country and particularly that of the Jewish community.
“I don’t think they will face problems, but we have to take everything into account and get prepared if something will happen,” he said Jan. 16.
No Jews have been targeted by the protesters, according to Roger Bismuth, a Jewish businessman and member of Tunisia’s Chamber of Deputies.
“The community is fine,” Bismuth said by phone from Tunis. “Up until now we’ve had no problems. This is not really a matter of religion — it’s a popular revolution.”
Jason Isaacson, director of government and international affairs at the American Jewish Committee, visited Tunisia last month. He said things are good for Jews there, but warned that things could quickly change.
“My concern is that if the situation is not stabilized, there could be further instability and create a breeding ground for extremism,” he said.
Yechiel Bar-Chaim, JDC’s country director for Tunisia, said his main concern is for the 100 Jews of Zarzis, who live in a two-square-block area just off the town center. Four non-Jewish civilians were killed during protests there late last week, and a Jewish shop was among the many looted.
Bar-Chaim said that until a few days ago, this self-imposed “ghetto without walls” was carefully guarded by police. But the police have “simply disappeared from the streets of Zarzis and the army presence there is basically a passive one,” he reported.
Natan Sharansky, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, warned of an “ever-present possibility of anti-Jewish sentiment leading to violence” in the cities where Jews live and work.
“Before the revolt, Ben Ali had a tolerant attitude toward the Jewish community,” he wrote. “Until the revolt there was no blatant anti-Semitism. However, an uncomfortable relationship between the Jewish community and the Arab population exists.”
Larry Luxner of JTA contributed to this report.