Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has joined the call for action against a 'new anti-Semitism'

More than 300 French celebrities and politicians have urged national action to counter a 'new anti-Semitism' that they blame on rising Islamic radicalism.

France has a Jewish community of more than half a million, the largest in Europe, and several French Jews have been killed by Islamic radicals in recent years.

Actor Gerard Depardieu, singer Charles Aznavour and former President Nicolas Sarkozy are among the well-known faces to have supported the call for change.

They joined politicians from the right and left, as well as Jewish, Muslim and Catholic leaders, in signing a manifesto published in Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday.

It urges prominent Muslims to denounce anti-Jewish and anti-Christian references in the Quran as outdated so 'no believer can refer to a holy text to commit a crime'.

The statement also calls for combating anti-Semitism 'before it's too late' and condemns the media for remaining silent on the matter.

French singer Charles Aznavour (left) and actor Gerard Depardieu (right) are among the signatories of the manifesto, which urges prominent Muslims to denounce anti-Jewish and anti-Christian references in the Quran as outdated

'In our recent history, 11 Jews have been assassinated – and some tortured – by radical Islamists because they were Jewish,' the declaration reads.

'French Jews are 25 times more at risk of being attacked than their fellow Muslim citizens.

'We demand that the fight against this democratic failure that is antisemitism becomes a national cause before it's too late. Before France is no longer France.'

Last month 85-year-old Jewish woman Mireille Knoll was stabbed and set on fire

Some 50,000 Jews had been 'forced to move because they were no longer in safety in certain cities and because their children could no longer go to school', it adds.

The manifesto also condemns a 'quiet ethnic purging' driven by rising Islamist radicalism, particularly in working class neighbourhoods.

Last month 85-year-old Jewish woman Mireille Knoll was stabbed 11 times before being set on fire, sending shockwaves across France.

In 2012 three schoolchildren and a teacher at a Jewish school were shot by Islamist gunman Mohammed Merah in the south-western city of Toulouse.

Three years later four people were killed at a Jewish supermarket in Paris by an associate of the two brothers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

And in 2017 an Orthodox Jewish woman in her sixties was thrown out of the window of her Paris flat by a neighbour shouting 'Allahu Akbar'.

Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said on France-Inter radio that the government must be vigilant against anti-Semitism and called for social unity.