Netanyahu Urges French Jews To “Come Home To Israel”

The “rising tide of anti-Semitism”?

Netanyahu said in a televised speech on Saturday “To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home“, calling on lawmakers to alter existing immigration laws to make it easier for Jews to emigrate to Israel.

Russia Today reports:

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Jews from France and the rest of Europe to immigrate to the state of Israel, referring to what he sees as a “rising tide of anti-Semitism” there. The statement comes in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Netanyahu identified the four victims as Yoav Hattab, Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen and Francois-Michel Saada.

“We express our deep sorrow for our Jewish brothers who were murdered simply because they were Jews,” he said. “[To] our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community of France we share your pain at the awful loss.”

Netanyahu added that radicalized Islam is threatening the western world and the Jewish people are a target.

“Unless the world comes to its senses, terror will continue to strike in other places,” he said.

However, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls clearly disagreed with Netanyahu’s dramatic rhetoric by focussing on the importance of the Jewish community within France.

“France without the Jews of France is not France,” he said.