France has deployed nearly 5,000 police officers to protect Jewish schools after last week’s attacks, according to AFP. Overall, 10,000 security forces will be mobilized to protect the countrys most sensitive locations, France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
On Sunday, Roger Gukierman, president of Jewish community umbrella group CRIF, said that French President Francois Hollande promised that the army would provide protection if necessary.
“We have our sadness and our rage, we also have a set out a number of urgent measures to take,” Cukierman said after a meeting with Hollande.
“They told us that all schools and all synagogues will be protected in measures that, if necessary, extend beyond the police to the army.”
France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, having grown by nearly half since World War Two to total some 550,000 according to CRIF. Anti-Semitic threats and incidents more than doubled last year, according to the Interior Ministry.
