The US ambassador to France has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to denounce what he said was the French Government’s insufficient action against anti-Semitism, days after similar remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US envoy Charles Kushner’s letter to Macron was dated August 25, which he noted was “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris that ended the deportation of Jews from French soil” under Nazi German occupation.
In the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by AFP, he wrote: “I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it…
“In France, not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalised,” he added.
While “anti-Semitism has long scarred French life”, the ambassador argued that hatred of Jews “has exploded since Hamas’ barbaric assault on October 7, 2023”, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
His remarks tallied with those made by Netanyahu, who on August 19 accused Macron of fomenting anti-Semitism, saying it had “surged” in France following the French President’s announcement in July that he will recognise Palestinian statehood.
Macron’s Élysée office was quick to hit back at Netanyahu, calling the Israeli leader’s allegation “abject” and “erroneous”.
“The analysis suggesting that France’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine in September is behind the rise in anti-Semitic violence in France is erroneous, abject and will not go unanswered,” it said, according to The Guardian.
“The current period calls for seriousness and responsibility, not generalisation and manipulation.”
Relations between the two leaders have been strained since July, when Macron announced that France would become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state at September’s UN general assembly, in the hope of bringing peace to the region.
But, like Netanyahu, Kushner denounced Macron’s criticisms of Israel over the war in Gaza and his planned recognition of a State of Palestine. Such moves, he said, “embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France”, AFP reported.
“In today’s world, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism – plain and simple,” the ambassador added.
“Surveys show most French citizens believe another Holocaust could happen in Europe. Nearly half of French youth report never having heard of the Holocaust at all.
“What are children being taught in French schools if such ignorance persists?”
Responding to the allegations, Macron’s office said that France “protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens” and that, since 2017, the President had systematically required his government to “take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts”, The Guardian reported.
According to the latest figures from France’s interior ministry, 504 anti-Semitic incidents were reported across the country between January and May this year, suggesting a 24 per cent decrease from the previous year.
The numbers, though, remain high, and double that of reported incidents from the same time period in 2013. Members of France’s Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, have repeatedly warned that anti-Semitic acts have increased since Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas on October7, 2023.
Most recently, the felling of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 prompted outrage, with Macron vowing to punish an act of “anti-Semitic hatred”, according to The Guardian.
France is home to around half a million Jewish people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Both communities have reported a spike in hate crimes since Israel’s retaliatory offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the besieged coastal strip, AFP reported.
