The Israeli Embassy in Paris was destroyed last night in a midnight fire. Israel’s Ambassador to France, Eli Bar-Navi, reports that no one was hurt, and that the small number of security personnel in the building at the time made it out safely. Local police say that the blaze was apparently accidental, although arson has still not been ruled out. The Jewish community in France has experienced a major increase in anti-Semitism in the past several months.

French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin visited the site in an act of solidarity. Several local firefighters were injured trying to control the five-story building\'s fire. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials convened for a special meeting this morning to discuss the ramifications of the blaze, and the Ministry\'s Deputy Director is on his way to Paris to help the embassy workers find an alternative site.

The fire broke out a day after a Mossad (Secret Service) official warned that al-Qaeda terrorists are planning attacks against Jewish targets around the world. The agent said that possible targets might include synagogues, as was the case in Djerba, Tunisia several weeks ago. In that incident, an al-Qaeda suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside the local synagogue, killing 21 people, mostly German tourists. Bin Laden spoke in 1998 of the need to \"make war against Christians, Jews, and supporters of the U.S.\"