French Israelis

Illustrative: Travelers seen at the arrival hall of Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, on April 11, 2018. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

Nothing to declare? Two French-Israelis indicted on money laundering charges

Adam Ivgi and Yonatan Yehuda Sisley-Chikli allegedly paid courier to smuggle cash through customs. Prosecutors seek to forfeit apartments they bought

October 12, 2019, 2:49 pm

Nothing to declare? Two French-Israelis indicted on money laundering charges

Adam Ivgi and Yonatan Yehuda Sisley-Chikli allegedly paid courier to smuggle cash through customs. Prosecutors seek to forfeit apartments they bought

By Simona Weinglass

Gilbert Chikli giving an interview in Israel at his Ashdod home, December 29, 2015. (Courtesy of i24 News/ via JTA)

September 26, 2019, 1:43 pm

French-Israeli men to stand trial over fake foreign minister scam

Gilbert Chikli and Anthony Lasarevitsch believed to be masterminds of audacious multi-million-euro shakedown that targeted wealthy people by impersonating top politician

By AFP

Illustrative image of a person being arrested. (BrianAJackson via iStock by Getty images)

August 28, 2019, 8:46 pm

French-Israeli man extradited to France to face charges for massive tax fraud

Michael Aknin, 39, allegedly sold carbon credits in France, then funneled €51 million to shell companies in East Asia to avoid tax payments

By TOI staff

The arrival of 100 olim from France at Ben Gurion Airport on July 17, 2019. (Stéphanie Bitan / Times of Israel)

August 2, 2019, 2:47 pm

On a flight to Israel, French immigrants share a new homeland, but not motives

Reasons for leaving France for the Jewish state are as varied as the 100 people sitting aboard El Al flight LY3320 from Paris to Tel Aviv — though the excitement is unanimous

By Stéphanie Bitan

July 12, 2019, 8:45 pm

Franco-Israeli sentenced to 9 years in prison, fined for vast tax fraud scam

Stéphane Alzraa, who was extradited from Israel, convicted of organized fraud and aggravated money laundering for involvement in $57 million ‘scam of the century’

By AFP

Illustrative: A policeman holds handcuffs. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

July 2, 2019, 1:01 pm

Trial starts for Franco-Israeli man accused in carbon credits scam

Stephane Alzraa, who was extradited from Israel, charged with organized fraud, aggravated money laundering and criminal conspiracy in $57 million scheme

By TOI staff and AFP

Altice group's Chairman Patrick Drahi poses for photographers at the Scopus Awards of the French Friends of the Hebrew University, in Paris, France on March 18, 2015. (AP/Thibault Camus, File)

June 17, 2019, 6:52 pm

French-Israeli media mogul Drahi buys Sotheby’s for $3.7 billion

New York auction house purchased by owner of Israeli Hot cable TV operator, to go private after 30 years on New York Stock exchange

By AFP and TOI staff

French investigating judge Helene Morton (screenshot France 3)

October 28, 2018, 2:47 pm

French judge: Israel not cooperating with France on scammers

After jurist probing con involving impostors who targeted soccer players expresses concern, Israel Prosecutor’s Office claims cooperation with France, the US is comprehensive

By Pierre Assouline and Simona Weinglass

Phone fraud (Illustrative image: iStock)

July 28, 2018, 2:37 am

Israeli police arrest 8 French-speakers for allegedly scamming French businesses

Working from an apartment in Ashdod, suspects alleged to call companies in France and charge them for ‘permits’ certifying they are accessible to the disabled

By TOI staff

Aviv Zonabend, a Jewish deputy mayor of the French city of Toulouse, on March 26, 2016. (Screen capture: YouTube)

April 25, 2018, 5:18 pm

French deputy mayor says future of Jews in Europe is ‘hopeless’

After call for German Jews to stop wearing kippahs in cities, Aviv Zonabend, Jewish member of Toulouse council, says the advice should be followed throughout Europe

By Michael Bachner

French Israelis light candles in memory of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman murdered in her home in France in what police believe was an anti-Semitic attack, seen here during a gathering in Jerusalem on March 28, 2018. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

March 28, 2018, 10:29 pm

French Israelis memorialize murdered Holocaust survivor

Candlelight vigils for Mireille Knoll held in Jerusalem and Netanya as marches against anti-Semitism take place in France

By TOI staff

French-Jewish lawmaker Meyer Habib with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in May 2017. (Screenshot)

May 28, 2017, 8:10 am

Netanyahu endorses Jewish lawmaker for reelection in France

PM says Meyer Habib an ‘engine’ developing France-Israel relations who continuously looks out for interests of French olim

By TOI staff

Waiting outside the polling station at the French Consulate on Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv, May 7, 2017. (Esther Kott / Times of Israel)

May 7, 2017, 7:54 pm

A continent away, French Israelis flock to polls to block Le Pen’s rise

Long lines at voting booths across Israel, as expats express concerns for future of France and of relatives who still live there

By PIERRE-SIMON ASSOULINE and DAHLIA PEREZ

MP Meyer Habib speaks at the National Assembly in Paris, November 28, 2014 (screen capture)

May 4, 2017, 3:05 am

French-Israeli settlers receive election notices addressed to ‘Palestinian territories’

Jewish MP blasts ‘demeaning provocation’ by Paris; some said to have boycotted presidential vote in protest

By TOI staff

A French national residing in Israel prepares to cast his vote for the first round of the French presidential election on April 23, 2017, at the French consulate in the coastal city of Netanya. (AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ)

April 24, 2017, 4:50 pm

French Israelis vote 60% for Fillon, 4% for Le Pen

Despite his disappointing show at home, voters in the Jewish state favor secularist candidate who vowed to fight anti-Semitism

By Raphael Ahren