Ze'ev Elkin
Ze'ev ElkinFlash 90

Israeli Immigration and Absorption Minister Ze'ev Elkin on Friday urged French Jews to flee to Israel after an Islamist terrorist attacked a factory near Lyon and pinned a severed head to the gates.

"I call on the Jews of France - come home! Anti-Semitism is rising, terror is increasing," Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party who also serves as Minister for Jerusalem Affairs.

"This is a national mission of the highest priority," he said.

At least one Islamist terrorist launched a daylight raid on an industrial gas factory in France Friday.  

"The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," said French President Francois Hollande in Brussels, cutting short an EU summit to chair emergency meetings in the French capital.

The victim was identified as a businessman from the suburbs of Lyon.

Netanyahu sparked controversy in Europe by encouraging French Jews to move to Israel in the wake of January's Paris attacks that left 17 dead, including four at a Jewish supermarket.s

France has the largest Jewish community in Europe, as well as the largest Muslim community. Muslim extremists are largely to blame for rising levels of anti-Semitism in the country, sometimes violent, which has triggered thousands of Jews to leave, mainly for Israel.

AFP contributed to this report.