Tensions between Paris and Tel Aviv have heightened since Macron’s announcement on recognising Palestinian statehood [Getty]
President Emmanuel Macron strongly rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent criticism over rising antisemitism in France and warned the issue should not be “weaponised”, in a letter to the Israeli leader published Tuesday.
The remarks come amid tensions between France and Israel over Paris’ decision to recognise Palestinian statehood in September.
“Accusations of inaction in the face of a scourge that we are fighting with everything in our power are unacceptable and are an offence to France as a whole,” Macron wrote to Netanyahu, in a letter published in several newspapers.
“The fight against antisemitism must not be weaponised and will not fuel any discord between Israel and France.”
Israel has been under mounting pressure to end its war on Gaza, where it has forcibly starved the Palestinian population and killed more than 62,000 people.
“I solemnly appeal to you to end the desperate race of a murderous and illegal permanent war in Gaza, causing indignity for your country and placing your people in a deadlock,” Macron wrote, in Tuesday’s letter.
In a letter sent in mid-August, Netanyahu had claimed that Macron’s promise that France would recognise a Palestinian state was fuelling antisemitism.
Macron had announced that France would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September.
In his letter to Macron, Netanyahu alleged that antisemitism had “surged” in France following the announcement.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement,” of the Hamas militants that Israel is fighting in Gaza, the Israeli leader wrote.
A diplomatic row also erupted in recent days between the United States and France when Washington’s ambassador to Paris in a public letter to Macron accused France of a “lack of sufficient action” on antisemitism.
US ambassador Charles Kushner, the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was ordered to report to the French foreign ministry on Monday but as Kushner was absent, the US embassy’s charge d’affaires went in his place.
France called Kushner’s allegations “unacceptable”.
