NEWS After Paris Attacks, Italian Authorities Beefed Up Security Measures

By Daniela Gross

The Paris massacre continues to have troublesome effects. At least 27 terror suspects have been arrested in Europe in the past 48 hours, including two Belgian nationals who were trying to flee to Italy, sources said Friday. The Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said,” “there were no specific terror threats to Italy,” in the wake of last week’s bloody attacks on journalists and Jews in France. Anyway, “there is a context that raises concerns,” Gentiloni went on. “We must respond to terror and barbarism without fear, and without giving up the mainstays of our civilization. We must respond with the unity of our institutions and of the Italian people”, he told the Senate. To prevent any risk the authorities have beefed up security measures in Rome’s Jewish quarters and around the city’s Jewish schools, embassies, monuments, places of worship and news media offices.

Also the President of the Italian Jewish Communities Renzo Gattegna reassured about the security of Italian Communities in their daily life. “The police do an excellent job to preserve Jewish institutions. There are synagogues and offices protected full time. We are really close to the institutions through a regular dialogue and a continuous information exchange”.

“Italian Jews were struck and alarmed by the Paris attacks, but there is no panic among us. We have managed not to give into fear and to not stop thinking. Public opinion is with us”.
Concerning the progressive rise of aliyah from France, motivated by security reasons, Mr. Gattegna excludes that it might happen in Italy. “The profile of the two communities is completely different. Italian Jews number about 25,000. In the last few years, some families have left for Israel, but most of them were motivated by the economic crisis or by the desire to join their relatives in Israel.”