The Jews of France are committed to remaining in their country, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said after meeting with the community’s leadership in Paris.
“What I heard was a real desire to stay in France and have France be a place where they felt safe,” Lew told reporters from the Jewish media in a conference call Jan. 27 from Poland, where he attended a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Lew’s remarks came in the context of controversy over an appeal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to have French Jews immigrate to Israel after an Islamist terrorist attack last month on a kosher supermarket in Paris left four dead. Aliyah has risen from France in recent years, and French political leaders have appealed to the country’s Jews to remain.
Lew did not mention Netanyahu’s appeal in the conference call, but said his conversation with Jewish leaders revealed a resolve to stick it out in France. Among those he met with were the president of the Union of Jewish Communities of France, Dr. Joel Mergui, and the chief rabbi, Haim Korsia.
“It was a combination of deep mourning over the losses they had, but also deep convictions over the importance of values they believe in in France and we believe in in the United States,” he said.
Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to Israel, in a speech on Feb. 1 defended Netanyahu’s visit to France after the attack and his appeal to French Jews. — jta