‘Irresponsible’ Sharon prompts French outcry

AN appeal by Israel’s leader for French Jews to flee for their safety prompted an outcry in France yesterday, with lawmakers and Jewish groups urging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to mind his own business.

The president of France's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said Mr Sharon "missed a good opportunity to keep quiet".

"These words are inadmissible, unacceptable and, furthermore, irresponsible", Jean-Louis Debre told Europe-1 radio, adding to a chorus of complaint in Paris from the government and opposition groups.

Mr Sharon on Sunday urged France's Jews to move to Israel to escape a tide of anti -Semitism at home.

"If I have to advocate to our brothers in France, I will tell them one thing," Sharon told US Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. "Move to Israel, as early as possible".

A spokesman for Israel's government sought yesterday to tone down the remarks, saying Mr Sharon only meant to let French Jews know they were welcome in Israel.

"Sharon was misunderstood," spokesman Avi Pazner told Europe-1 radio, adding the prime minister said: "He considered that French Jews, like all Jews in the world, belong in Israel and he invited French Jews to come."

Pazner stressed Mr Sharon had spoken off the cuff in response to a question, and that he had praised the French government for its efforts to combat rising anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic acts against Jewish schools, synagogues and cemeteries have risen in France in recent years, coinciding with tensions in the Middle East. Many attacks have been blamed on young Muslims.

The latest French Interior Ministry figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the first six months of 2004 compared with 593 for all of last year.

"I would simply remind that France is today certainly the country with the strictest legislation on all problems of racism,"

Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told RTL radio Monday. She added that France shows the "strongest disapproval, its condemnation and sanctions racist and anti-Semitic acts."

France's opposition Socialists also condemned Mr Sharon's remarks as "unjustifiable," saying such comments would add to the racial confusion in France, said party spokeswoman Annick Lepetit.

The French Foreign Ministry issued a swift reply to Mr Sharon's remarks, saying it had immediately contacted Israeli authorities for an explanation to "these unacceptable statements".

French Jewish leaders interviewed on France-2 television said Mr Sharon's remarks were unhelpful.

"These comments do not bring calm, peace and serenity that we all need," said Patrick Gaubert, president of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism.