WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama compared Israel favorably to the United States in making a point about gun violence.

“Here are the stats: Per population, we kill each other with guns at a rate 297x more than Japan, 49x more than France, 33x more than Israel,” Obama said Sunday on a Twitter account that the White House says he personally authors.

“Expressions of sympathy aren’t enough.” he said. “It’s time we do something about this.”

Obama’s tweets referred to the shooting deaths Wednesday of nine congregants in a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. An alleged white supremacist is being held in the shootings.

Obama has made efforts to strengthen gun control a hallmark of his presidency.

Handgun ownership in Israel is subject to stringent restrictions.

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