BySandy Rashty, Sandy Rashty
French Jews have welcomed plans to build a £7 million cultural centre in Paris.
The new European Centre for Judaism is to include an area for academic studies, a cultural space, a synagogue, conference halls and offices.
Joel Mergui, the president of Consistoire Centrale, which provides French Jews with religious services, told Libération: "It would've been easy to give up on this project and say that Jews are leaving.
"I want to convey a different message to France and its Jews: 'We determine our own future'."
He added: "I wouldn't want us to leave for the summer vacation and close this especially tragic year for France and for the Jewish community without being able to provide a note of hope."
I want this to provide a note of hope
The centre is set to open in northern Paris in 2017. More than one quarter of the costs will be paid for by the French government and the land for the centre will be leased cost-free.
The announcement comes after a record number of French Jews made aliyah in the wake of terrorist attacks - around 20,000 Jews have moved to Israel from France since 2012.