Two hundred Jews from France boarded a flight to Tel Aviv Wednesday to make Israel their new home, the BBC reported.

About 2,000 French Jews emigrate to Israel every year for religious reasons, to find work and some because they say the fear of anti-Semitic attack has made their lives intolerable.

But Wednesday's exodus only further frosted relations between France and Israel, the report said. France was outraged earlier this month when a young woman who is not Jewish made up a story about how Muslim youths who thought she was Jewish attacked her on a subway.

Before she recanted and said she made it all up for attention, French President Jacques Chirac made a personal pledge to clamp down on anti-Semitism.

Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon infuriated Chirac when he called on French Jews to flee the country and seek refuge in Israel.

Sharon was scheduled to personally greet the 200 emigrants in Tel Aviv, the report said.

Source: Agencies