Italian Jewish migration to Israel booms

(ANSA) - Jerusalem, November 21 - An estimated 300 Italian Jews are expected to emigrate to Israel this year in the biggest such exodus to the Jewish state from the peninsula in some 40 years, an Italo-Israeli demographer, Sergio Della Pergola, disclosed Friday.
    The figure represents 1.1% of Italy's Jewish population, Pergola told ANSA.
    While the number is relatively small, their demographic impact on the Jewish community registered in Italy of some 25,000 is significant, he adds.
    Those emigrating are motivated by the economic crisis in Italy as well as "endemic" prejudice and anti-Semitism in the media, on the Internet, and vast sectors of parliament, Pergola said.
    "We must give credit to the Italian government for taking a clear stance on the matter, beginning with President (Giorgio) Napolitano," he said. "It is not the political class that is responsible, but rather the mechanism that solders old prejudice against Jews to the new anti-Semitism linked to the relations between the Jews and Israel".
    The anti-Semitism Italian Jews experience, however, is nowhere near the physical danger Jews living in Israel currently face.
    "In Italy there almost zero attacks, but the discomfort persists," Pergola said.