France will hold an urgent top-level meeting on fighting anti-Semitism tomorrow following the firebombing of a Jewish boys' school in a Paris suburb, President Jacques Chirac's office has announced.
Mr Chirac will confer with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and his ministers of interior, justice and education before receiving leaders of France's 600,000-strong Jewish community, the largest in Europe.
Jewish synagogues and schools have been attacked repeatedly in recent years in violence the authorities usually link to poor Muslim youths incited by Israel's tough policies against Palestinian unrest.
Nobody was injured in the fire early yesterday morning in Gagny, north of Paris, where investigators found evidence the arsonists broke in and set two different fires.
An annex to the main building of the Merkaz Hatorah school, which was under construction, was completely destroyed.
"The French republic cannot tolerate any anti-Semitic act," Mr Chirac said in a statement yesterday. "More than anywhere else, school must be a place of tolerance and respect."
Mr Raffarin added in a statement: "The government will be highly vigilant against any anti-Semitic conduct or talk in schools."
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Education Minister Luc Ferry both visited the charred ruins of the school and expressed their indignation.