France has summoned U.S. envoy Charles Kushner after the ambassador accused the French government of fuelling antisemitism through its criticisms of Israel.<\/p>\n
In an op-ed<\/a> published Sunday in the Wall Street Journal titled \u201cA Letter to Emmanuel Macron,\u201d Kushner argued that France failed to rein in a \u201cdramatic rise of antisemitism,\u201d pointing to the French government\u2019s reproach<\/a> of Israel\u2019s military offensive in Gaza. Kushner also cited the Trump Administration\u2019s deportation record<\/a>, targeting<\/a> of students<\/a> and administrations<\/a> at universities where pro-Palestinian protests<\/a> had taken place, and bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities<\/a> as examples of effective measures to counter antisemitism.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France. In today\u2019s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism\u2014plain and simple,\u201d Kushner, who is Jewish, wrote.<\/p>\n France\u2019s foreign ministry released a statement refuting the allegations and said it would summon Kushner on Monday.<\/p>\n Kushner, however, did not report to the foreign ministry, and instead sent the U.S. embassy\u2019s charge d\u2019affaires in his place, a French diplomatic source told AFP<\/a>. The U.S. State Department backed Kushner\u2019s allegations on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe stand by his comments,\u201d State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. \u201cAmbassador Kushner is our U.S. government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n Who is Charles Kushner?<\/p>\n The President Donald Trump-appointed U.S. ambassador to France is the father of Jared Kushner, a former White House senior adviser during Trump\u2019s first term and the husband of Trump\u2019s eldest daughter Ivanka.<\/p>\n Trump described<\/a> the elder Kushner as \u201ca tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker\u201d on Truth Social when he announced he would nominate him for the ambassadorship last November. Kushner, who is 71 years old, founded real estate firm Kushner Companies in 1985.<\/p>\n He served two years in federal prison for tax evasion, making illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering after pleading guilty to 18 counts in 2005. Prosecutors alleged<\/a> that he had conspired and participated in a scheme to intimidate his brother-in-law, who was cooperating with the investigation as a witness. Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020.<\/p>\n Kushner said at his confirmation hearing in May that he was \u201cdedicated to building an even stronger relationship\u201d between the U.S. and France at a time when the Trump Administration is seeking to balance global trade dynamics through tariffs<\/a> and pushing its allies to increase their defense spending.<\/p>\n What did Kushner say about French authorities?<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Kushner wrote in the op-ed, which has been shared<\/a> on social media by Israel\u2019s foreign ministry.<\/p>\n Kushner alleged that \u201cpro-Hamas extremists and radical activists have waged a campaign of intimidation and violence across Europe,\u201d including defacing synagogues, assaulting Jewish people, and vandalizing Jewish-owned businesses.<\/p>\n Kushner also cited a report that nearly half<\/a> of French youth lacked knowledge about the Holocaust<\/a>. \u201cWhat are children being taught in French schools if such ignorance persists?\u201d (A nationwide survey in the U.S.<\/a> in 2020 showed more than half of respondents did not have basic knowledge of the Holocaust.)<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump and I have Jewish children and share Jewish grandchildren. I know how he feels about antisemitism, as do all Americans,\u201d Kushner said, pointing to the Trump Administration\u2019s crackdown<\/a> on non-citizens who have expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments. (Trump himself has been criticized<\/a> for using antisemitic slurs<\/a>, backing people<\/a> with ties<\/a> to white supremacy<\/a> or records of antisemitism<\/a>, and using antisemitism as a scapegoat<\/a> for broader crackdowns on immigration and free speech.)<\/p>\n What was France\u2019s response?<\/p>\n The French foreign ministry said in a statement<\/a> on Sunday that Kushner\u2019s allegations are \u201cunacceptable.\u201d The ministry said the statements violate a principle of international law that bars ambassadors from interfering in the host country\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also fall short of the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result from it between allies,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n Summoning a diplomat to a host country is a diplomatic gesture typically to convey concern or anger. \u201cYou are asked to go, normally to the director, and you have to hear what they have to say, and at the same time, you have the right to express your position,\u201d Ilir Bocka, the Albanian ambassador to Serbia, told the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a symbol of serious political will,\u201d John Casson, former U.K. envoy to Egypt, added. \u201cBut not on its own\u2014it needs to be backed up by other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n French Equality Minister Aurore Berge said on broadcaster Europe 1-CNews on Monday that the government\u2019s \u201cfight against antisemitism is unambiguous\u201d and that the issue of antisemitism \u201cis too important to be used as a diplomatic bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports of antisemitism in France<\/p>\n Both antisemitic<\/a> and Islamophobic incidents<\/a> have risen<\/a> in France and across the world since Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a> began after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel by Hamas, which killed over 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. In France, antisemitic attacks in the past year have included vandalism of the country\u2019s national Holocaust memorial, synagogues, and a Jewish-owned restaurant, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/a>, as well as the vandalism<\/a> of Israeli airline El Al\u2019s Paris office and the destruction<\/a> of a commemorative olive tree meant to honor a French Jew who was murdered in 2006.<\/p>\n The French foreign ministry said in its statement responding to Kushner that rising antisemitism \u201cis a reality that we deplore and against which the French authorities are demonstrating total mobilization.\u201d<\/p>\n Globally, there has been growing debate<\/a> over whether anti-Zionist or anti-Israel rhetoric should be considered antisemitic, as the Anti-Defamation League reported<\/a> that Israel-related incidents made up 58% of the total incidents of antisemitism in the U.S. last year. Some have criticized<\/a> the labelling<\/a> of pro-Palestinian demonstrations as antisemitic.<\/p>\n France\u2019s growing criticisms of Israel<\/p>\n France said<\/a> in July that it plans to recognize a Palestinian state<\/a> at the United Nations general assembly in September. There has been growing international condemnation of Israel for its ongoing military bombardment of Gaza<\/a> and outcry over what several humanitarian organizations<\/a> have called a genocide<\/a> in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThe military offensive in Gaza that Israel is preparing can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war,\u201d Macron posted<\/a> on X last week.<\/p>\n The war in Gaza has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians and nearly 2,000 Israelis (including those killed in the Oct. 7 attack), according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its\u00a0 figures\u00a0 do\u00a0 not\u00a0 differentiate\u00a0 between\u00a0 civilians\u00a0 and\u00a0 combatants\u00a0 and\u00a0 cannot\u00a0 be independently verified by TIME. Data from the IDF suggests a Palestinian civilian death rate of 83%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel condemned France<\/a> for its decision to recognize Palestinian statehood, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that it \u201crewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.\u201d The U.S. also rejected France\u2019s decision. Several more countries, including the U.K. and Australia, have since also announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n France has condemned<\/a> Israel\u2019s killing<\/a> of Palestinians seeking aid<\/a>, aid workers<\/a>, and journalists<\/a>. France was also among several European countries to summon<\/a> their Israeli ambassadors after IDF soldiers fired \u201cwarning shots\u201d near a delegation of visiting diplomats in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in May. That month, France, Canada, and the U.K. also condemned<\/a> Israeli\u2019s military expansion in Gaza, its blockade of humanitarian aid, and the forced displacement of Palestinians.<\/p>\n The diplomatic row between the U.S. and France has come days after Macron reportedly rejected<\/a> Netanyahu\u2019s claim<\/a> that antisemitism in France has \u201csurged\u201d after the French government announced its plans to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas\u2019s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,\u201d Netanyahu said in an Aug. 17 letter to Macron.<\/p>\n Macron\u2019s office responded in a statement late last Tuesday, saying that Netanyahu\u2019s claim is \u201cerroneous, abject, and will not go unanswered,\u201d according to news outlets. \u201cThe current period,\u201d Macron reportedly said, \u201ccalls for seriousness and responsibility, not generalisation and manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France has summoned U.S. envoy Charles Kushner after the ambassador accused the French government of fuelling antisemitism through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,1930,3,7688,24308,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-110865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-diplomacy","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-news-desk","12":"tag-overnight","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}