A record-breaking 5,000 people from throughout France have thus far visited an aliyah fair taking place in the heart of Paris today, the same day as the French run-off election. The fair, organized and run by the Jewish Agency, is being attended by Jewish Agency Chairman of the Executive Natan Sharansky, as well as by representatives of various Israeli local authorities and government bodies, who are meeting with participants and presenting them with various opportunities for settling in Israel.

Jewish Agency Chairman Sharansky noted emotionally that thousands of members of the French Jewish community had visited the fair. “I cannot recall having seen such a massive number of people interested in aliyah since the days when lines of people stretched out of the Israeli embassy in Moscow,” said Sharansky.

The French Jewish community is the largest in Europe, with some 500,000 members.