Jewish France The rich prefer to move to the US, with their money of course, rather than to Israel. This is according to an article in the Observer.
Dozens of wealthy Jews recently moved their families from the French "meat pot" to another "meat pot" - New York - and brought more than a billion dollars with them.
Real estate agent Marlen Kruzhkov told the Observer that since the beginning of 2014, the flow of wealthy Jews leaving France has increased significantly due to the wave ofAntisemitism which is increasing in the country and throughout the European continent.
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""French Jews have two main destinations - Israel and the US. Israel is a nice place and they feel at home there, and they have many friends there, but it is a small place without many business opportunities and with a lot of bureaucracy. On the other hand, the US and North America are a huge market with less bureaucracy.".
""The main reason for Jews leaving France is anti-Semitism and not business or financial motives, but someone rich with a lot of money and businesses is of course also looking for business opportunities and that is part of the considerations in deciding where to move," he says.
The families that Kruzhkov treats have an average net worth of $50-70 million, he says. And with that kind of net worth, it's not difficult to get an immigrant visa to the US. "Most of them are looking for existing investments in real estate, meaning existing assets that will generate a steady, steady flow of income. But there are some who feel 'adventurous' and are looking for opportunities in new projects.".
According to the broker, not all wealthy Jewish families are considering leaving France ("only" 75% of them and about 50% ultimately make the move..) but almost all of them are seeking to take their capital out of the country.
He says that almost all those leaving France are happy with the move. "A client of mine told me that if he felt homesick, he would visit France as a tourist. But he would never go back there to stay permanently.".
