France has summoned U.S. Ambassador to Paris Charles Kushner after he wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron claiming the country has not done enough to combat anti-Semitism.
The French Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 24 August announcing Kouchner’s summons on Monday. The foreign ministry emphasised that the diplomat’s accusations were “unacceptable”.
In a letter published by the media on August 24, Kouchner called on the French president to urgently introduce hate crime laws and tone down criticism of Israel, saying that the French government’s statements recognising the Palestinian state were fuelling anti-Semitic incidents in France.
Macron has publicly criticised anti-Semitism as contrary to French values, and has stepped up security measures to protect synagogues and other Jewish centres in response to anti-Semitic incidents linked to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
France is home to Western Europe’s largest Jewish community of about half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community sensitive to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. Both communities have reported a spike in hate crimes following Israel’s war against Hamas (recognised as a terrorist group in the EU and the US) in the Gaza Strip in response to an attack by the group’s militants on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Charles Kushner is the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. He founded Kushner Companies, a real estate company.
Jared Kushner is a former senior adviser to Trump and is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions.