French ambassador: School shooting a ‘crime against humanity’
Christophe Bigot condemns attack, but says that calls for mass French aliya are misplaced
France’s ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, called Monday’s shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse a “barbaric act” and a “crime against humanity.”
“In all sectors of French society, there is a strong feeling of shock and of empathy for the family of the victims and for the Jewish community of Toulouse,” he said.
Bigot told The Times of Israel that he could not say whether the act had an anti-Semitic motivation, but added that the French Protection Service of the Jewish Community recently reported that anti-Semitic incidents were at a 10-year low.
“But of course,” Bigot added, “today’s event completely changes the picture and it shows that it is an everlasting fight against these mad and barbaric people.”
Bigot reacted to MK Ya’akov Katz’s call for French Jews to emigrate to Israel, calling it misplaced. “We offer in France the best security that can be offered. There are criminals and there are crazy guys. What can we do against them? Educate people and take security measures,” he said.
Bigot said that in the wake of Monday’s attack the Interior Ministry in Paris announced heightened state-funded security for Jewish institutions nationwide.