SHARON PRAISES CHIRAC'S EFFORTS TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM, IN CHANGE OF TONE
Received Wednesday, 28 July 2004 20:28:00 GMT
BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, July 28 (AFP) -
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid tribute Wednesday to French President Jacques Chirac's efforts to combat anti-Semitism, as he greeted some 200 new Jewish immigrants from France.
"We have seen over the past few years a renewed outbreak of anti-Semitism and we greatly value the mobilisation of Jacques Chirac and his government against anti-Semitism," he said in a welcoming speech at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv.
"I hope this example will be followed by other countries," said Sharon, in a change of tone from comments earlier this month that stirred a diplomatic spat between the two countries.
"A distinction must be made between the fight against anti-Semitism and encouraging immigration (to Israel). The Jews should come and settle here because it is their homeland, not to flee anti-Semitism," he said.
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