France-Israel relations sour over Sharon remarks

1.00pm

PARIS - France told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday it will not set a date for him to visit Paris until he explains comments urging French Jews to emigrate to Israel to escape "the wildest anti-Semitism".

A spokeswoman for President Jacques Chirac signalled that a long-standing invitation for Sharon to visit France is now on hold until the Israeli leader explains remarks that have outraged politicians and Jewish groups in France.

Israeli officials responded by saying France had over-reacted to Sharon's comments, made on Sunday in a speech to Jewish leaders visiting Jerusalem in which he also praised France's efforts to fight anti-Semitism.

"Following Mr Sharon's declarations, France has called for explanations," the spokeswoman said.

"France said today that a possible visit by the Israeli prime minister to Paris, for which no date has been set, will be examined only when the explanations called for have been provided."

Israel has often accused France and the European Union of bias towards the Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a visit by Sharon had not seemed imminent.

But the dispute has set back relations with Paris even further and soured the atmosphere as France tries to build ties with Israel.

Sharon often calls on all the world's Jews to migrate to Israel. He also acknowledged the French government was making efforts to stem anti-Semitism but said the threat was so grave that French Jews should head for Israel without delay.

"I think that they are over-reacting," Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz told Reuters. "As you know, Israel is a Zionist state. And we always advocate Jews to migrate to Israel. So nothing new about that."

Reuven Rivlin, speaker of the Israeli parliament, said: "I'm so very sorry if the French government have declared the Prime Minister of Israel as 'persona non grata'...The prime minister did not blame France for what is happening to the Jewish people."

A spokesman for Sharon tried to ease tension by underlining that the prime minister had praised France for its "strong stance" against anti-Semitism while blaming anti-Semitism in France on "a large Muslim populace who are hostile to Israel."

That did not appease French politicians and Jewish groups.

Parliamentary speaker Jean-Louis Debre, a Chirac ally, said Sharon's comments were irresponsible. "These are matters which distort reality...and I think they are an expression of hostility towards our country," he told Europe 1 radio.

France is home to Western Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim communities and has been troubled by attacks on Jewish people and property in recent years, some of it blamed on tensions stoked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"France is not Germany of the 1930s," said Julien Dray, spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party, referring to the Nazi persecution of Jews.

France, which is home to about 600,000 Jews and five million Muslims, has been trying to strengthen trade and political ties with Israel, but renewed tension could undermine such moves.

- REUTERS