The representative Council of French Jewish Organizations (CRIF) announced here today that it will take no active political role in the forthcoming French elections. CRIF released a document defining the role of the Jewish community within the “political commonwealth” which stresses the right of individual Jews to fight their political battles but stresses that “no one has the right to claim the backing of the organized Jewish community.”
This document was released six weeks before the forthcoming municipal elections and several months before the parliamentary ones. It was released. CRIF sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, to prevent an open split between pro-government CRIF members and those favoring the Socialist-Communist coalition. The CRIF committee apparently decided to halt the debate by making it known that it will not commit the Jewish community to either side.
The CRIF document recalls the community’s attachment to Israel and warns that “any threat to the existence of Israel will be regarded by the French Jewish community as an attack on its integrity, its collective spirit, its faith, hope and dignity.” The document also calls on “the present government and all future governments to remain faithful to France’s moral vocation which should not be sacrificed for the sake of immediate material advantages and interests.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
