Tunisia’s Jews Shun ‘Migrate to Israel’ Idea
In the wake of the Arab Spring, an Israeli government minister said that for their own safety all of Tunisia’s remaining Jews should move to Israel.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews once lived across North Africa and the Middle East before the creation of Israel in 1948. But the suggestion that the small communities that remain should disband has been largely met with derision - from the Jews themselves.
In a small family-run kitchen on the northern outskirts of Tunis, a jovial middle-aged man with a full grey moustache puts the finishing touches to a rich, chocolate dessert.
With a range of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, there is nothing that outwardly sets this particular eatery apart. That is until you look at the faded black and white photographs that cover the walls. Photographs of family weddings, of happy couples, of a community that is a mere fraction of what it once was.
Jacob Lelouche runs the last kosher restaurant in the country, he is a proud Tunisian and he is also Jewish. None of which is contradictory or in any way problematic, says Jacob.
He certainly feels under no pressure to leave the country of his birth and even stood as an independent Liberal candidate in last October’s historic elections.
“Where would I go - to Europe? Come on, I’m not stupid. To Israel? I’m not that stupid either,” Jacob told me as he prepared to open the restaurant for the evening.
“It’s important that a Jewish man can stand in elections here, but it’s not a problem - nobody really cares.”