Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

France urges Jews to ignore Israel's call to 'return home'

Image
IANS Paris
Last Updated : Feb 16 2015 | 6:30 PM IST

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls Monday urged Jews to stay in the country after a fresh call by Israel for European Jews to "return home", media reports said.

"My message to French Jews is the following: France is wounded with you and France does not want you to leave," The Local news portal quoted Valls as saying.

French President Francois Hollande also urged Jews to not to emigrate. "Jews have their place in Europe and in particular in France," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday called on European Jews to move to Israel. "Jews were killed on European land just because they were Jewish," Xinhua quoted Netanyahu as saying.

"This wave of attacks will continue. I say to the Jews living in Europe -- Israel is your home," he added.

Netanyahu also said the Israeli government would discuss a plan to encourage immigration of Jews from France, Belgium and Ukraine, with an estimated cost of 180 million shekels ($46.3 million).

Also Read

The Israeli prime minister's statement came after a deadly shooting at a synagogue in Denmark's capital Copenhagen, which killed one security guard.

Also on Sunday, France's interior ministry expressed shock after several hundred tombs at a Jewish cemetery in the northeast of the country were vandalised.

More From This Section

First Published: Feb 16 2015 | 6:24 PM IST

Next Story