Czech premier asked to tackle threats against Jews, minorities

PRAGUE (JTA) — The European Jewish Congress has asked Czech Premier Petr Necas to urge other EU leaders to tackle possible threats against Europe’s Jewish and other minority communities, EJC President Moshe Kantor said.

Kantor warned of further attacks from Muslim extremists on the continent due to a potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

“The new anti-Semitism is found amongst the extreme enclave Muslim communities in Europe, which [use the situation in the Middle East] as an excuse to attack Jews, Jewish sites and institutions,” Kantor said at the EJC executive meeting in Prague on May 17.

Necas reportedly agreed to support the strategy ahead of a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later that day.

Tomas Kraus, EJC’s Czech representative, said the initiative has found support among Europe’s Muslims.

“Most of the Muslim leaders were just as shocked by the recent attack in Toulouse as we were and said it would hurt them, too,” he told JTA, referring to the March attacks in France by a Muslim extremist who murdered seven people, including a rabbi and three Jewish day school children.