Free Republic

The District Governor of Ile De France has contacted the State Attorney’s Office on Monday, after the French newspaper Liberation reported that two prominent historical sites turned away a group of students from the Tel Aviv University (TAU) Art History program last month. According to the report, both the Louvre art museum and the Sainte-Chapelle church rejected tour requests from the group on the basis of their nationality. …

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls claimed on Monday that despite the overabundance of Islamist terror, there is no link between terrorist extremism and Islam, as he opened a conference aimed at improving ties with France’s large Muslim community. “We must say all of this is not Islam,” said Valls as quoted by AFP. “The hate speech, anti-Semitism that hides behind anti-Zionism and hate for Israel…the self-proclaimed imams in our neighborhoods and our prisons who are promoting violence and terrorism.” …

French President Francois Hollande conveyed a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend asking him not to come to Paris to take part in the march against terror on Sunday, according to an Israeli source who was privy to the contacts between the Elysees Palace and the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. The fact that this message had been conveyed was first reported by Channel 2. After the French government began to send invitations to world leaders to participate in the rally against terror, Hollande’s national security adviser, Jacques Audibert, contacted his Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, and said...

The French government was opposed to the idea of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending Sunday’s historic march in Paris, believing the Israeli leader’s presence at the rally would be “divisive,” Israeli media reported Sunday. Netanyahu did not initially plan to attend the event, which was organized in a show of solidarity and defiance after terrorist attacks in the French capital which claimed 17 lives. However, the Prime Minister changed his mind after Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett announced they would join the march, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported. In retaliation to Netanyahu’s sudden change of heart,...

French president responds positively to request by World Jewish Congress official to push for unprecedented sanctions against Iran. French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to stand with Israel against Iran during a 90-minute meeting he held with the World Jewish Congress at the Elysée Palace in Paris, according to sources from the gathering who spoke with The Jerusalem Post. “Israel has no better security partner than France when it comes to Iran,” Sarkozy assured the Jewish leaders, according to the sources. RELATED: PM: Iranian nukes endanger Mideast, world peace Sarkozy gaffe rekindles talk of US-J'lem tensions The head of the World...