Charge of "Anti-Semitism" Used to Provoke Immigration of French Jews to Israel.

Just 10 days after he called on France's 600,000 Jewish citizens to move to Israel "immediately" to escape what he called "the spread of the wildest anti-Semitism," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon welcomed the first 200 French Jewish immigrants to arrive in Israel. According to Israeli press reports, the Jewish Agency had decided to send several hundred agents to France in order to persuade tens of thousands of French Jews to emigrate because of rising anti-Semitic attacks in recent years. A recent survey of French Jews conducted by the Israel Project found that 26 percent are considering emigration due to rising anti-Semitism in France.