Anti-Semitism in France is not the nightmare painted by the press, the French ambassador to America, Jean-David Levitte told a group of about 100 Jews at a synagogue in the Bronx yesterday.

Mr. Levitte, who is Jewish, called the present moment in France-Israel relations a high point in a historically rocky relationship, and the 48% decrease in reported anti-Semitic incidents over the past year an “encouraging evolution.”

Stamping out anti-Semitism altogether, according to Mr. Levitte, “will take time, but the determination is certainly there. Our government will spare no effort to eradicate the scourge of anti-Semitism from the French population.”

Acknowledging the wave of attacks against French Jews in 2001 and 2002, Mr. Levitte said, “Yes, we had a problem, but it has abated. It’s not over, but the trend is encouraging.” 2001 saw more than 300 attacks carried out against French Jews. During that time, school buses were stoned and synagogues were damaged.

But over bagels and lox, Mr. Levitte underscored what he said was today’s thriving cultural, political, and economic exchange between France and Israel. France remains the number one destination for Israelis traveling abroad, and there is a thriving scientific exchange between Israeli and French laboratories, according to Mr. Levitte.

With a population of about 700,000 Jews, the ambassador said, France has the third-largest Jewish community in the world after Israel and America.

“France and Israel have exactly the same view with what we should do in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. We have a very important dialogue,” he said. A Jew sporting a yarmulke on the Champs-Elysees today would not be hassled, Mr. Levitte said.

Mr. Levitte quoted the Pew Global Attitudes Project poll of July, 2005, which found that 82% of French people questioned held favorable attitudes toward Jews. Of the countries polled, France had the second highest percentage after the Netherlands.

Some audience members at Young Israel of Pelham Parkway expressed concern about the influence of France’s growing Muslim population on the country’s foreign policy— a suggestion firmly denied by Mr. Levitte.

Mr. Levitte’s appearance in the Bronx came at the request of Rep. Joseph Crowley, a Democrat. “The global community needs to work together through law enforcement and education programs to assure that the surge of anti-Semitism is fought and kept in its place,” Mr. Crowley said. “America has a different history of dealing with anti-Semitism. It’s that history and in that context that I’m concerned about the rise in Europe. While no country is perfect, France has made incredible strides. France in four years has come a long way.”