In France, defense experts ‘see parallels to Israel’

For months, security officials in France’s Jewish community have been warned of the very real possibility of an impending large terrorist attack in the country, although there had been no specific information, according to Jonathan-Simon Sellem, a freelance journalist and a representative of French citizens in Israel.

Security experts in France, Sellem told The Times of Israel from Paris on Saturday morning, are now comparing the country’s situation with that of Israel.

On BFMTV, France’s largest mainstream news channel, defense analyst Dominique Rizet said what is happening in France today has been happening in Israel for the past 20 years – and it is just the beginning.

The Bataclan theater, site of Friday’s deadliest attack, was until recently Jewish-owned, said Sellem. As the site of annual fundraisers for the IDF, it is frequently targeted by anti-Israel protests, phone calls and emails, he said.

But, Sellem emphasized, the Jewish community in France “should not fall into paranoia.”

 

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