Olmert to French Jews: Come to Israel

"I want to tell you, ask you something. I love it when you come to visit us, but I want you to eventually come and live at home. You live in a wonderful country, but you have a home. We have no other country, we have one state, the Jews' state, and all the Jews will come and live in the Land of Israel in the new future, with God's help," Olmert said.

The prime minister spoke before hundreds of senior members of France's Jewish community, and called on them to immigrate to Israel and encourage their children to come and visit Israel before immigrating.

In addition, Olmert asked the community members to send their children to Israel as part of the Taglit-Birthright Israel and MASA Israel programs so that they can promote their immigration to Israel.

It should be noted that only about two years ago, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused a stir in France when he also called on French Jews to immigrate to Israel in light of growing anti-Semitism. The tension dissipated only a year later in light of the evacuation of Gush Katif and Sharon's successful visit to Paris.

Officials at the French Embassy in Israel refused to refer to Olmert's remarks on Thursday.

'We will never go back to living in '67 borders'

A large part of Olmert's speech was dedicated to the plan to clear settlements from the West Bank. Olmert used as examples decisions taken by Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion in 1949 and Ariel Sharon in 2005, which he described as "the establishment of a state with a Jewish majority and secure borders."

Olmert also said: "There is no force in the world that can stop us, the Jewish nation, from deciding its borders and the nature of its life. The truth must be told, in our land there are people who do not want us. Every centimeter from the Jordan to the sea belongs to the Jewish people. But we must compromise, in order to safeguard the character of the state in which we seek to live in and to ensure the existence of the nation forever."

Olmert in France (Photo: AP)

Olmert also spoke about his commitment to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. He emphasized the need to safeguard the three large settlement blocs. "We will never go back to living in the '67 borders," he told a supportive audience, receiving applause.

Olmert said that Israel would continue to fight terrorism, irrespective of whether or not it will work towards advancing the realignment plan.

"There should be no mistake, we won't stop the war on terror for one minute, and we won't apologize for this issue. We will reach every place and every terrorist. We are not fighting civilians, we are not fighting children, we are not fighting Palestinian girls, but we won't hesitate to strike every terrorist and everyone who fires Qassams at Sderot and Ashkelon," he said.

"I don't apologize to anyone. There is no force in the world that can prevent us from carrying out our duty to protect our citizens," Olmert added.

During his speech, Olmert spoke about the war on anti-Semitism and praised French President Jacque Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

"The murder of Ilan Halimi touched the most sensitive bone of our collective memory. When this happens, and it doesn't matter where – whether it's Paris, Marseille, or another country – it touches all of our deepest fears, our struggles throughout history," he said.

"But, thank God, we reached a situation today where Jews cannot be harmed without a new response being given. That was the past, but it is a period that has forever ended," Olmert added, winning warm applause from the Jewish audience.