Legislation that would ban some anti-Israel rhetoric in France and define it as an expression of antisemitism advanced Tuesday toward a first reading in the French parliament next week.
Bill 575, which the lawmaker representing Frenchmen in Israel submitted last year, passed 18-16 in the Law Committee of the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament.
Lawmakers debated it for three hours on Tuesday, making major revisions to the original version, including removing a clause that would have criminalized calling for the destruction of a country.
The bill is an effort to respond to how antisemitism has evolved in France. Since the early 2000s, antisemitic expression has become more violent and shifted from being primarily associated with pro-Nazi far-right circles to far-left and Islamist milieus. In this environment, traditional anti-Jewish tropes often intersect with ideological hostility toward Israel, including in deadly jihadist attacks.
The approved text of the bill submitted by National Assembly deputy Caroline Yadan proposes to toughen laws on incitement to terrorism and introduce a penalty of up to seven years in prison or a fine of €100,000 ($117,000) for “presenting terrorist acts as legitimate resistance.” Advocates of Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist entities often describe their violence as “resistance.”
It also prescribes closures of houses of worship where racist hatred and terrorist violence are preached.
What the French media call “the Yadan Law” is widely expected to pass a first reading on Jan. 26, the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, by a large majority of the 577 lawmakers in the National Assembly. It has the support of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party and the right-of-center National Rally of Jordan Bardella, the Liberation newspaper reported.
Yadan was elected to parliament as a representative of Renaissance but downgraded her ties to the party, switching to an independent affiliated lawmaker in September following the Macron administration’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
She represents the Eighth French legislative constituency for citizens abroad, which encompasses some 130,000 voters in nine Mediterranean countries, including Turkey, Italy and Greece. Israel has the largest number of voters in the constituency, with over 50,000 registered French voters.
The Socialist Party of Olivier Faure intends to abstain during the vote and the far-left France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon will oppose the bill, according to the report.
Noting the rise in documented expressions of antisemitic hatred in France, the bill states that “These developments directly call into question the adequacy of the existing legal framework and justify adapting our criminal law to combat antisemitism more effectively.”
Some lawmakers, especially on the left, have opposed the bill, citing what they described as excessive restrictions on public speech. On Wednesday, several dozen people protested against the legislation at a rally near the National Assembly.
