The U.S. ambassador to France in a letter published on Sunday criticized the Macron government for its lack of action amid a sharp increase in Jew hatred in the country since the Hamas-led attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron published in the Wall Street Journal, Charles Kushner expressed his “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.” The letter goes on to state that “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized.”
The letter is dated Aug. 25, despite being published a day earlier, a date Kushner notes is “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil” under Nazi German occupation.
Antisemitism has “long scarred French life,” Kushner wrote, but has “exploded” since the Oct. 7 massacre and amid the subsequent war in Gaza.
He accused Macron of contributing to the escalating antisemitism through his harsh criticism of Israeli actions during nearly two years of fighting and by announcing intentions to recognize a Palestinian state next month at the United Nations meeting. Kushner wrote that such moves “embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France.”
“In today’s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism—plain and simple,” Kushner added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wrote a letter to Macron last week, in which he accused the French president of contributing to antisemitism by calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state. The United Kingdom, Malta, Canada and Australia have followed France in announcing their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state in September, with London stating that its intentions could be changed if Jerusalem meets certain demands.
Macron’s office rejected Netanyahu’s accusation as “abject” and “erroneous.”
In response to Kushner’s letter, Paris said on Sunday it would summon Kushner the next day. The French Foreign Ministry released a statement according to which it “firmly refutes” the allegations, which it considers “unacceptable.” The statement further accused Kushner of violating international law by allegedly interfering in domestic affairs and not meeting the “quality of the transatlantic link between France and the United States and the trust that must result from it between allies.”
The U.S. State Department stood by Kushner’s comments, with spokesperson Tommy Pigott adding on Sunday evening that “Ambassador Kushner is our U.S. government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role,” according to the Associated Press.
The 71-year-old real estate developer, whose son is Jared Kushner—a senior advisor during the first Trump term and who is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka—took the post on July 11. His portfolio also includes Monaco. The elder Kushner, born to Jewish Holocaust survivors, was reportedly named Chanan after a relative killed in a concentration camp.
“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?” Kushner’s letter reads.
France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, with around half a million Jews and millions of Muslims.
Kushner wrote that he is ready to work with Macron and other French leaders to “forge a serious plan” to address the problem. In the summon statement, the foreign ministry asserted that French authorities have “fully mobilized” to tackle the rise in antisemitic acts, calling them “intolerable.”
In the latest reported antisemitic act, the manager of Parcours aérien Tyrovol, an outdoor adventure facility known for its aerial zipline course and located near Porté-Puymorens in southern France, refused entry to 150 Israelis aged 8 to 16, French media reported on Aug. 21, citing the Perpignan Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The manager was taken into police custody on suspicion of “discrimination based on religion in the provision of goods or services.”
On Aug. 20, “Free Palestine” graffiti was sprayed on Jewish-owned cars in Châtel, an Alpine town near the Swiss border. Many Jewish families vacation there during the summer. Nine cars belonging to Jewish vacationers were spray-painted with the words “Free Palestine” in the morning, according to a report by CNEWS.
