M
K Ya’akov Katz called Monday for Jews to leave France in the wake of a deadly attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse.
“There is no Jewish future in France,” Katz, of the National Union party, said, adding that the state of Israel is the future of the Jewish people, and that Jews should not trust their fate to “Sarkozy, Obama or other world leaders.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (photo credit: Olivier Fitoussi /Flash90)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, by contrast, expressing shock over the attack, said Israel was confident the French authorities would do “everything possible” to bring the perpetrator to justice.
Opposition head Tzipi Livni posted on her Facebook page, calling it a sad day. “The state of Israel and the Jewish people are partners in battling antisemitism and hate crimes,” she said. Livni said France must protect its citizens from events like this one, adding that she trusts the French authorities will find the person responsible.
The UK board of Jewish Deputies issued a press statement, saying the attack is “a terrible reminder of the threat” minorities in Europe face.
A rabbi, two of his children and a young girl were killed when a man on a motorbike shot them in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse. The man fled, and French police were searching for him.
In the wake of the deadly attack, MK Danny Danon (Likud), called for an urgent session Tuesday of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to discuss the attack.
“We will not allow the pogroms of the beginning of the 20th century to return to Europe,” Danon said.
The French ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, is expected to attend the session, entitled “Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in Europe.”
I think it is time for leaders to start being honest and admit why there is a rise of Antisemitism in France, which has up to a 10% Muslim population. Edith Stein, St. Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us and for those who have died recently from hate crimes.