PARIS - President Jacques Chirac called on the Israeli prime minister to explain his remarks urging French Jews to leave their country, suggesting that until he does, Ariel Sharon will not be welcome in France.

Sharon told a group of American Jewish leaders on Sunday that French Jews are under increasing threat from France's large Muslim community and should immigrate to Israel for their own safety.

The French Foreign Ministry quickly issued a terse statement calling his remarks "unacceptable" and demanding an explanation. Jean-Louis Debre, president of France's lower house of parliament, went further, telling Europe-1 radio that the words are "inadmissible, unacceptable and, furthermore, irresponsible."

Even French Jewish leaders said Sharon's remarks did nothing to help the situation.

"These comments do not bring calm, peace and serenity that we all need," said Patrick Gaubert, president of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, told France-2 television.

Sharon had been considering a trip to Paris, but the French government said he would not be welcom.

"A visit by the Israeli prime minister to Paris ... won't be looked at closely until the requested explanation is provided," said a presidential source who declined to be named.

Israeli officials are now backing away from those statements. Jacques Revah, the charge d'affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Paris, said Sharon's remarks - in which he said France was host to "the wildest anti-Semitism" - were only a way of telling Jews they belong in Israel.

"Mr. Sharon had the same message for all Jews in the world, and if he pointed out France, it was to praise the position and the measures France has taken to combat anti-Semitism," Revah said.

Since the birth of the Jewish state, Israel has encouraged Jews to immigrate there to reclaim their ancestral land. But in the case of France, there is an especially complex interplay of politics and history.

Many Israelis speak French, admire French culture, and recall the days when Paris was a close ally.