Macron decries ‘abject' Netanyahu claim of antisemitic surge in France
In a statement released late on Tuesday, the office of the French president pushed back against Netanyahu's claim. 'The analysis suggesting that France's decision to recognise the state of Palestine in September is behind the rise in antisemitic violence in France is erroneous, abject, and will not go unanswered,' it said. 'The current period calls for seriousness and responsibility, not generalisation and manipulation.'
Relations between the two leaders have been strained since July, when Macron announced that France would become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state at next month's UN general assembly, in hopes of bringing peace to the region.
At the time, Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, criticised the decision, saying that France 'rewards terror'. He added: 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.'
The move would see France join the group of UN members – at least 145 out of 193 – who now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a tally by the news agency Agence France-Presse.
In a letter sent to Macron earlier this week, Netanyahu accused the French president of not doing enough to confront the alarming rise of antisemitism in France. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pour fuels on this antisemitism fire,' Netanyahu wrote.
A similar letter, with almost identical wording, was reportedly also sent to Australia's prime minister earlier this week.
Responding to the allegations, Macron's office said that France 'protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens' and said that, since 2017, the president had systematically required the government to 'take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of antisemitic acts'.
According to the latest figures from France's interior ministry, 504 antisemitic acts were reported across the country between January and May this year, suggesting a 24% decrease from the previous year.
The numbers, however, remain high, at double the number of reported incidents from the same time period in 2013. Members of France's Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, have repeatedly warned that antisemitic acts have surged since Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Most recently, the felling of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 prompted outrage across the country, with Macron vowing to punish an act of 'antisemitic hatred'.
Tensions between Israel and its traditional allies have been mounting in recent weeks following Macron's promise to recognise a Palestinian state – a move that elicited similar signals from Britain, Canada and Australia.
This week, after sending Australia's prime minister a letter accusing him of fuelling antisemitism with his decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Netanyahu doubled down on his criticism of Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, saying he was a 'weak politician who had betrayed Israel'.
Albanese brushed off the claims. 'I don't take these things personally,' he told reporters on Wednesday. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect. I engage with them in a diplomatic way.'
Hours after his office had sparred with Netanyahu, Macron highlighted plans to co-chair a conference on a two-state solution with Saudi Arabia in New York in September.
Macron made the announcement as he criticised Israel's plans for a 'military offensive in Gaza', writing on social media that it 'can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war'.
Global pressure has been mounting on Israel to address the situation in Gaza, where at least 62,000 people have been killed and a complete blockade on aid entering the Palestinian territory has led to widespread conditions of starvation.
In July, two of Israel's most respected human rights organisations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, said Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and said the country's western allies had a legal and moral duty to stop it. The accusation echoes earlier positions taken by global human rights organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International.
Israel denies is it carrying out a genocide, and says the war in Gaza is one of self-defence in response to the cross-border attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
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