Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France asked his country’s defense minister to keep soldiers deployed outside Jewish institutions for as long as possible.
Valls informed members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Amer-ican Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group that represents 50 national Jewish organizations in the United States, of the request Jan. 15 during a conference call.
“Today, I asked the minister of defense to prolong for as long as possible the deployment of armed forces around Jewish institutions,” Valls said in reference to the measure, which was taken last week following the slaying of four at a kosher market in Paris.
Valls added that the protection by 10,000 troops “will remain necessary for many months … as long as the threat remains.”
The Dec. 2 vote by the French parliament in favor of immediate recognition of a Palestinian state “was not related to the attacks” last week, Valls said.
“Even if there will be peace between Israel and Palestinians tomorrow, even if Hamas suddenly ceases to exist, the Islamist threat will not go away,” said Valls, who vowed to fight against extremism.
In addition to Islamists, who Valls said “feed off the young in poor neighborhoods in France,” anti-Semitism “exists also among a minority from the far right.”
Valls, whose wife is Jewish, has earned plaudits among French Jews for his pro-Israel statements and those against anti-Semitism. — jta