France has most anti-semitic incidents in world says Israel

ISRAEL said yesterday that France had the dubious distinction of being the country with the highest number of anti-semitic incidents in the world last year.

"The situation for Jews in France is very problematic,” said Natan Sharansky, Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, adding that the number of anti-Semitic events recorded in France had doubled in 2003.

He said 47% of all such incidents registered in western Europe took place in France, and urged immediate action by the authorities in Paris.

Sharansky presented statistics showing the number of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide almost halved last year to 983 from 1,979 in 2002. By contrast, the number in France jumped to 141 from 77.

There are estimated to be around 500,000 Jews in France and around five million Muslims in an overall population of 60m.

Two weeks ago, French President Jacques Chirac and other French MPs met with a delegation of Israeli journalists to discuss allegations of anti-Semitism. Media reports said the French leader assured them the authorities would do everything in their power to fight anti-Semitism.