France on Friday ordered additional security measures at Jewish sites across the country, saying there was danger of revenge attacks after the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, AFP reported.
In a message sent to regional prefects, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said an "immediate strengthening" of protection was required.
"The risk of acts being committed is real," he said in the message seen by AFP, especially since "many Israeli nationals are on our territory because of the Olympic Games".
Darmanin ordered police, gendarmes and the military protection force Sentinelle to be mobilized "without delay" to guarantee the protection of "strategic locations frequented by our Jewish fellow citizens, especially during religious services", according to the news agency.
France's Jewish population is the largest in Europe, and the third-largest in the world after Israel and the United States. The country is also home to Europe's biggest Muslim population.
Earlier this week, French police launched an investigation into death threats received by three Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympic Games.
The 88 athletes representing Israel in the various sports are receiving 24-hour security, courtesy of French police, as announced by Darmanin before the start of the games.
France has already seen a dramatic increase in incidents of antisemitism since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
Last month, MK Sharren Haskel revealed that her 88-year-old grandmother was violently attacked in France after she was seen wearing a Star of David necklace.
In June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in a park in the Paris suburbs. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making antisemitic insults.
Before that, vandals painted dozens of blood-red hands on the Wall of the Righteous, a memorial for the French citizens who risked their lives to save Jews during the Second World War, at the Mémorial de la Shoah Holocaust museum in Paris.
A recently published report by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) found that French Jews live in fear of antisemitism, with a majority having directly experienced antisemitism.
Previously, CRIF, the umbrella organization of the Jewish organizations in France, published a report which found that antisemitism in France has increased by 1,000% since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)