Despite Netanyahu’s Invitation, Danish PM Says Jews ‘Belong in Denmark’

Netanyahu Calls for Mass Immigration of Jews to Israel; Danish PM Says They ‘Belong’ in Denmark (Mediaite)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Europe’s Jews to immigrate to Israel Sunday, after a shooting at a Copenhagen synagogue left one dead.

“Israel is your home,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We are preparing and calling for the absorption of mass immigration from Europe.”

“To the Jews of Europe and to the Jews of the world I say that Israel is waiting for you with open arms,” he added, repeating a call he made after a hostage situation at a kosher deli in Paris last month that killed four Jews. Many fear the incidents bespeak of a rising and violent strain of anti-Semitism in Europe.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt rebutted Netanyahu’s invitation in a speech Monday. “I want to make very clear that the Jewish community has been in this country for centuries,” Thorning-Schmidt said. “They belong in Denmark. They’re part of the Danish community and we wouldn’t be the same without the Jewish community.”