David and Vanessa B.
We made our aliyah with our 4 children. We come from Paris where we ran a business in the air conditioning field for 15 years.
We had been wanting to settle in Israel for several years: we wanted to come home, create a better world, raise and watch our children grow up in their homeland, allow ourselves to live fully according to the rhythm of our holidays, be able to wear a kippah while walking with our heads held high without looking back. We knew we were making one of the most important decisions of our lives. The most important factor for a successful aliyah was choosing the right city. We only knew Israel as tourists. Comparing the variety of cities this country could offer us was a daunting task. Our priorities were as follows: being able to easily integrate into Israeli life, learn the language, stay within our budget, and last but not least: being in a coastal city... And Hadera was able to meet all our needs positively. Three years later, we don't regret our choice. Our children are perfectly integrated in a religious-Zionist school and we have recreated an Israeli air conditioning company. Last point, very positive, the francophone community is growing.
You will be welcome there...
José Boublil
I would like to provide in a few lines an unconventional testimonial about the city of Hadera where I just opened an office. I am a 61-year-old "grandpa," formerly a chartered accountant and auditor in France. At the time, I played my part solo for 15 years during which my firm became the French leader in IPOs in the new technology sector, and advisor to almost all French institutional investors for their acquisitions and investments in High-Tech. In 2000, I got married and at the same time, I joined Deloitte (at the time 150,000 employees worldwide, world #2).
Four years later, I made my aliyah and started, in 2007, a business placing elderly people in retirement homes with 5 employees. We developed this company - which I took over completely - and it now has more than 120 employees, including 10 that we just hired in Hadera.
Why Hadera? Since the early 90s, we had gotten into the habit of coming every year on vacation to northern Israel, to an artist village called Ein Hod, located 20 km south of Haifa. During all those summers, we would sometimes come in the evening to Hadera for a kebab restaurant, the only local attraction at the time. And this city's reputation was that of a working-class city, of simple people, Sephardic Jews from Iraq, Persia (Iran), Yemen or Morocco. Needless to say, very few French people knew the place.
A few years after our arrival, I learned that Axelle and Julien Benguigui, whom I had known in my chic synagogue in the 16th arrondissement, had also made their aliyah to this coastal city. At first I thought I was dreaming: imagine a young French doctor and a young Sciences Po Paris graduate settling in Hadera! At first, I thought "they're crazy."
But since they are anything but crazy, I then began to follow the incredible evolution of this city, where more and more French people have moved over the past five years. And this very courageous choice is paying off! A beautiful city that is expanding through quality construction, magnificent and still somewhat wild beaches. A much less stressful pace of life than Tel Aviv or others. And now a human environment, especially among the French, that seems increasingly interesting; particularly for business creators. At the beginning of 2016, my business required a large volume of recruitment all at once. The candidates I interview in Hadera are of excellent quality, even those I don't select as salespeople.
I notice a parallel evolution in the city's overall economy, which will surely allow newly arrived business owners to find an interesting francophone environment alongside real estate opportunities that are still accessible, just steps from a splendid sea (there, that's the "old-timer" talking!).
Beatsla'ha to all.
José Boublil,Chartered Accountant-Auditor, Former Partner at Deloitte, Co-founder of several high-tech startups.
