Sharon wants one million Jews to make aliyah

At the conclusion of his visit to France, Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon has again called on French Jews to emigrate to Israel. "The best means to guarantee the future of the Jewish people is aliyah," Sharon told a gathering of European and French Jewish leaders in Paris. "I tell Jews all over the world to make aliyah to Israel. My government has a priority of bringing one million Jews to Israel." But at a meeting with Pierre Besnainou, president of the European Jewish Congress, and the president of the France's Jewish umbrella group CRIF, Roger Cukierman, Sharon indicated that he did not regard French aliyah as "urgent" and said that his call was not linked to the rise in anti-Semitism in the country – something for which he was attacked by France last year. "He had the impression that a page had turned in our relations," Cukierman told "Reuters" after the meeting with Sharon. "It was a very good visit and it will allow me in the future to be less critical of French foreign policy."