Yonathan Arfi reacted to Benjamin Netanyahu’s letter to Emmanuel Macron this Wednesday, August 20, believing that the fight against anti-Semitism must go beyond diplomatic differences.
“The fight against anti -Semitism is too essential a subject to become the object of a diplomatic dispute,” insisted this Wednesday, August 20, the president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) Yonathan Arfi on X, after having “learned by the press” of the letter from Benjamin Netanyahu to Emmanuel Macron.
“Gather and not divide”
In his letter, the Israeli Prime Minister accused the French president “of fueling anti -Semitic fire” in France by calling for international recognition of the State of Palestine.
After the letter from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Élysée announced that the latter, “abject” and “erroneous”, will not “remain unanswered”. “The Republic will always protect its compatriots from Jewish confession,” assured the presidency.
“The relationship between France and Israel, based on shared democratic values and common fights, in particular against terrorism, deserves better than vain controversies”, writes Yonathan Arfi.
If the CRIF recalls its disapproval of a future recognition of a Palestinian State by France, he claims to continue “to work with the public authorities and to ask that anti -Semitism is better fought in particular by integrating anti -Zionism, which has become the fuel of the hatred of the Jews”.
“The fight against anti -Semitism must bring together and not divide,” concludes the president of the CRIF in his press release on social networks.
An “alarming rise in anti -Semitism in France”
The Israeli Prime Minister notably expressed his concerns vis-à-vis “the alarming rise in anti-Semitism in France” and the “lack of decisive actions of the government to face it”.
“The violence against the Jewish community is unacceptable,” the Elysée wrote in response. “This is why, beyond the convictions, the Head of State has systematically asked all of his governments since 2017-and even more after the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023- The greatest firmness towards the authors of anti-Semitic acts.”
Emmanuel Macron intends to officially recognize the state of Palestine during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. Chance of the calendar, Roch Hachana, the Jewish New Year, will take place from September 22 to 24.