The foreign minister of Israel, Sylvan Shalom, has arrived in France for a controversial two-day visit. Jewish community leaders had criticized the timing of the visit. The president of the Jewish umbrella body CRIF, Roger Cukierman, said that while expressions of solidarity with French Jews were welcome, anti-Semitism in France was a problem of French society and had to be tackled by it. The issue had nothing to do with relations between Israel and France.
Shalom praised France for trying to fight the recent anti-Jewish violence and anti-Semitic incidents, which culminated in the arson attack on a Jewish social center in Paris last weekend. He said that the French government's strong commitment to finding and punishing the perpetrators of those acts were to be commended, but added that this needed to be supported by the general public, especially younger people. Schools and universities must get involved in the battle against anti-Semitism, Shalom said.
After meeting with Israel's chief diplomat, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin announced updated figures regarding anti-Semitic acts in France. In the first seven months of 2004, 160 anti-Semitic attacks against people or property were recorded, compared to 75 in the first seven months last year.
