French President Nicolas Sarkozy says that “a Jewish state has no meaning because a state is neither Jewish nor Catholic.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says that “a Jewish state has no meaning because a state is neither Jewish nor Catholic.”

He made the same remark several times this week in interviews on two Jewish radio stations and with a French news agency following the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, whose parents are French citizens.

Sarkozy earlier this month said on another occasion that Israel cannot be defined as Jewish no more than “this table is Catholic.” He was raised as a Roman Catholic but his grandfather was Jewish.

His remarks reflect an international view that denies that the United Nations recognition of Israel as a country in 1947 actually is the re-establishment of the ancient state that existed for approximately 1,000 years from the time of King Saul until the fall of the Holy Temples.

Asked about a “Jewish state,” Sarkozy replied, “A Jewish state – I don’t know what that means. Speaking of a state of the Jewish people is already more interesting."

"A Jewish state has no meaning because a state is neither Jewish nor Catholic.”

Nevertheless, the French president favors a “two-state” solution in which Israel will be bordered by the Palestinian Authority, which PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has stated will be cleansed of Jews and thereby be a country only for Arab Muslims and a small and dwindling Christian population.

"If there is a Palestinian state, it is likely that Palestinians will be mainly living there and if there is an Israeli state Jews around the world know that whatever happens they will have a homeland,” according to Sarkozy’s line of thinking.

"Two states for two peoples would mean that nobody is losing face. As far as I know there are millions of people who are not Jewish in Israel today," he added.

Sarkozy also expressed views shared by many people who support Jews when they are down-trodden. ""Frankly, I prefer to be on the side of those who are victims of anti-Semitic abuse than with those who profess these kind of behaviors," he said.