According to a spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US ambassador Charles Kushner was summoned after he allegedly complained to President Emmanuel Macron that Paris had failed to do enough to stop anti-Semitic violence.
Kushner addressed the open letter to The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, focusing on France’s criticism of Israel, which has been accused by prominent human rights organizations of staging a genocide in Gaza, and its plans to grant a Palestinian state.
He wrote that “publications that disparage Israel and encourage extremists, fuel violence, and put a Jewish community in France at risk” Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, to put it simply, in today’s world.
The ambassador received a prompt response from Paris.
France “strongly refutes these most recent allegations,” according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. The ambassador’s claims are untrue, the ambassador said.
According to the ministry, France is “fully committed” to combating anti-Semitism.
Kushner’s comments were also made against international law, with particular reference to diplomatic personnel’s obligation to refrain from interfering with state affairs, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Additionally, they fall short of the trust that should be built between allies as a result of France and the United States’ transatlantic relationship.
The US State Department later responded, saying it supports Kushner’s assertions.
Ambassador Kushner represents the US government in France, according to US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott in a statement.
Israel has repeatedly displaced Palestinians in Gaza, where it has been systematically destroying the enclave of 2 million people, killing dozens of people each day.
France and other Western countries have made plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks while preserving their trade, diplomatic, and security ties with Israel.
Israel and its main ally, the US, have been infuriated by the decision, though.
Kushner, who was the father of former adviser Jared Kushner and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, was pardoned by Trump during his first term after being found guilty of tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005.
The ambassador’s letter comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week addressed a similar statement to Macron that also linked anti-Semitism to France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
The office of the French president quickly retaliated against Netanyahu, calling his allegations “abject” and “erroneous” and promising that they “will not go unanswered.”
The French presidency stated that “this is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not conflation and manipulation,” adding that France “protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens.”
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply