US Ambassador to France Denounces Emmanuel Macron's "Lack of Sufficient Action" on Anti-Semitism

This statement comes just days after a heated exchange of words between Emmanuel Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu on the same issue. The US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, denounced President Emmanuel Macron's "lack of sufficient action" against anti-Semitism, in a letter to the head of state obtained by AFP on the evening of Sunday, August 24.

The representative of the United States in France , also the father of Jared Kushner, who is none other than Donald Trump's son-in-law, expresses "his deep concern at the surge in anti-Semitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by (his) government to combat it."

In an official letter on Tuesday, August 19, the Israeli Prime Minister once again attacked the French President's desire to call for international recognition of the State of Palestine, suggesting that such a stance fueled anti-Semitism. The Elysée Palace responded strongly, denouncing the accusation as "erroneous and abject."

In his letter, dated Monday, the American ambassador echoes Benjamin Netanyahu's argument. "Statements that vilify Israel and gestures in recognition of a Palestinian state encourage extremists, foment violence and endanger Jewishness in France ," said Charles Kushner. "Today, it is no longer possible to procrastinate: anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism , period."

According to the ambassador, "not a day goes by in France without Jews being attacked in the streets , synagogues and schools being damaged, and businesses belonging to Jews being vandalized. Your own government's Interior Ministry notes that nursery schools have been targeted by anti-Semitic attacks."

Kushner is also outraged that "almost half of young French people say they have never heard of the Holocaust." "The persistence of such ignorance therefore pushes us to question the curriculum in French schools," he adds.

Praising President Trump's actions in this area and his ability to "fight anti-Semitism, as long as our leaders have the will to act," the US ambassador to France urged the French president "to act with resolve."

At the end of July, Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. Following this, more than a dozen Western countries, including Canada and Australia, called on other countries around the world to do the same.

The UN General Assembly, scheduled for September, ends precisely on the 23rd, the day of the Jewish New Year and the date before which Benjamin Netanyahu calls on Emmanuel Macron "to replace weakness with action, appeasement with will" in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitic acts have been on the rise in France since October 7, 2023, the date of Hamas's attacks on Israel and the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The context is particularly delicate since France is home to the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, with approximately 500,000 people, as well as a very large Arab-Muslim community, which is very sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.