In a letter in a particularly virulent tone to tone addressed to Emmanuel Macron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alarmed by what he describes as “the alarming rise in anti -Semitism” in France and denounces the “inaction” of the French government in the face of this phenomenon. This letter, revealed this Tuesday, testifies to the growing tension between Paris and Jerusalem, already marked by the differences on the Palestinian file.
Benjamin Netanyahu directly accuses the French president of feeding anti -Jewish hatred in France by his positions on the recognition of a Palestinian state. “Your call for a Palestinian state is pouring oil on anti-Semitic fire,” he wrote, believing that this diplomatic orientation “rewards Hamas’ terrorism” and “encourages the hatred of Jews in the French streets”.
In his letter, the head of the Israeli government draws up a dark picture of the security situation for the Jews in France. He quotes a series of recent examples: the assault of a man carrying a kippah in Livry-Gargan, the Parisian premises of the airline El Al Vandalized and covered with graffiti “Génocide Airline”, or even the criminal fire against a Jewish primary school in Lyon in June, accompanied by swastika and pro-Palestinian slogans. “These events are not isolated. These are the symptoms of a scourge, ”he wrote. Benjamin Netanyahu then opposes the action of Donald Trump to what he perceives as French inaction. According to him, the American president “has shown that anti -Semitism could and should be fought,” recalling that Washington has expelled Hamas sympathizers and withdrawn from visas to foreign students accused of encouraging hatred. The Israeli Prime Minister urges Emmanuel Macron to act before a symbolic date: the Jewish New Year, set this year on September 23. “Anti -Semitism is cancer. It spreads when the leaders are silent. He retreats when the leaders act, “says Netanyahu, before concluding:” History will not forgive hesitation. She will honor the action. This frontal attack places the French president in the face of a double pressure: that of a strategic ally which reproaches him for his policy in the Middle East, and that of a French Jewish community which is said to be more and more worried about the rise in anti-Semitic violence.