Exodus call rebuffed

Paris

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week angered the French when he called on French Jews to emigrate en masse to Israel. France, Sharon declared in a speech in Jerusalem, is host to “the wildest anti-Semitism,” adding that the nation’s 600,000 Jews should “move to Israel as early as possible.” Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders in France all said the statement was ridiculous and could encourage violence against Jews. President Jacques Chirac said Sharon would not be welcome in France until he retracted his remarks. Violent attacks on Jews and desecrations of Jewish cemeteries, mostly by Muslim immigrants, have nearly doubled in France in the past year.