Israelis support Netanyahu's visit to Paris after attacks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to France this week following the terrorist attack at a kosher supermarket that left four French Jews dead and the shooting massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper caused a certain amount of controversy, but the overwhelming majority of Israelis support both his visit to Paris and his conduct while there, an Israel Hayom poll shows.

Three-quarters of Israelis polled said that Netanyahu was right to travel to France to participate in the massive protest march against terrorism. Only 16 percent of respondents said he should not have gone, and another 9 percent said they did not know if he should or should not have taken part.

One of the issues raised by Netanyahu's visit was whether he should have issued a call for French Jews to move to Israel. Some saw his words as offensive, implying that the French government was incapable of protecting its citizens.

However, most Israelis polled agreed with the prime minister. When asked if Netanyahu had conducted himself appropriately when he urged French Jews to make aliyah, two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents said they approved. An additional 25 percent said they disagreed with his calling on French Jews to emigrate to Israel, and 9 percent said they did not know if he was right to do so.

The poll, conducted among Hebrew-speaking Jewish Israelis over the age of 18, also asked where they believed it was safest to live as a Jew.

More than three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents said Israel was the safest place for Jews. France was cited by 1 percent of people polled while 16 percent of respondents cited other places. Seven percent of people polled said they did not know where it was safest for Jews to live.