Danish Jews refuse calls to emigrate to Israel

Danish Jews yesterday turned down an offer by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to emigrate to Israel following an attack on the main synagogue in Copenhagen, AFP reported.

“We are very grateful for Netanyahu’s concern but having said that, we are Danish – we are Danish Jews but we are Danish – and it will not be terror that makes us go to Israel,” the spokesman of the Jewish community in Denmark Jeppe Juhl.

“So we understand his concern for our well-being, and we value his concern but we are Danish and we are staying in Denmark. If we move to Israel it is for other reasons,” he told AFP.

Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt advised Danish Jews not to emigrate despite Netanyahu’s statement.

“The Jewish community have been in this country for centuries. They belong in Denmark, they are part of the Danish community and we would not be the same without the Jewish community in Denmark,” she told reporters the day after the shooting at the Jewish synagogue.

On Sunday, Netanyahu called on European Jews to move to Israel after a Jewish guard was killed while protecting the Copenhagen synagogue – in one of two attacks in the city over the weekend.

“Israel is your home. We are preparing and calling for the absorption of mass immigration from Europe,” Netanyahu said in a statement, repeating a similar call he made last month after Paris attacks that killed 17 people, including four Jews.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman also called for Jews around the world to migrate to Israel in order to push the population to over 10 million.

Around 8,000 Jews live in Denmark, according to the Jewish Community of Denmark.