Government fears brain drain could leave the country deprived of future business leaders and investors.
HAIFA, Israel—When French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron visited Technion, the Israel Institute for Technology, this past week he asked a group of students originally from France if they would ever consider returning home.
“For the holidays,” one student quipped. Another, a computer-science major, questioned whether France was doing enough to address a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks.
The remarks point to an uncomfortable reality for the French government. Israel has become a nesting ground for precisely the kind of talent the eurozone’s second-largest economy needs: budding tech entrepreneurs.