France summons US ambassador Charles Kushner over antisemitism allegations

 

France summons US ambassador Charles Kushner over antisemitism allegations

 

Kushner says in letter to Macron he’s concerned over ‘rise of antisemitism’ and ‘lack of sufficient action’ to confront it

 

Reuters

Sun 24 Aug 2025 23.28 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/24/france-summons-us-ambassador-antisemitism-allegations

 

France summoned the American ambassador Charles Kushner after he wrote a letter to President Emmanuel Macron alleging France had failed to do enough to stem antisemitic violence, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

 

Kushner, who is Jewish and whose son is married to US President Donald Trump’s daughter, published the open letter in the Wall Street Journal amid deep divides between France and the US and Israel.

 

Kushner’s letter to Macron noted that Monday was “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil” under Nazi German occupation.

 

He wrote: “I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism 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 vandalized,” he added.

 

In the letter, he urged French president Emmanuel Macron to more urgently enforce hate-crime laws and tone down criticism of Israel, saying French government statements about recognising a Palestinian state have fuelled antisemitic incidents in France.

 

While “antisemitism has long scarred French life”, the ambassador argued that hatred of Jews “has exploded since Hamas’s barbaric assault on October 7, 2023,” which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

 

“France firmly refutes these latest allegations,” said a foreign ministry statement in response, hours after the letter’s contents were made public.

 

“The Ambassador’s allegations are unacceptable,” the ministry said, adding Kushner would be due to appear on Monday.

 

The ministry said the 1961 Vienna Convention meant ambassadors were not permitted to interfere in a country’s internal affairs. Kushner would be summoned to the foreign ministry on Monday, it added.

 

Kushner’s letter follows another sent to Macron by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week in which Netanyahu accused Macron of contributing to antisemitism by calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state, according to the Jerusalem Post.

 

Macron has emerged as one of the more forceful critics of Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, particularly with regard to Palestinian civilian casualties, while Trump has steadfastly supported the Israeli leader.

 

“Public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France. In today’s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism – plain and simple,” Kushner wrote.

 

Kushner’s son Jared Kushner is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who converted to Judaism before their wedding in 2009. They have three children who are being raised Jewish.

 

Macron has publicly criticized antisemitism as antithetical to French values and increased security to protect synagogues and other Jewish centres in response to antisemitic incidents linked to the Gaza conflict.

 

France is home to western Europe’s largest Jewish population at around half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of the Palestinian people 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.

 

Macron’s announcement that France would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September drew a swift rebuke from Israel at the time.

 

With the move, France is set to join a list of nations that has grown since the start of the Gaza war nearly two years ago.

 

France is among at least 147 of the 193 UN members that now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a recent New York Times report.

 

AFP contributed reporting