Rabat \u2014 The French government formally summoned US Ambassador Charles Kushner on Sunday following an open letter addressed to President Emmanuel Macron, in which Kushner accused France of failing to adequately curb a surge in anti-Semitic violence.<\/p>\n
The letter, published<\/a> in The Wall Street Journal, criticized the French government\u2019s criticisms of Israel and its gestures toward recognizing a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n It further warned that such actions \u201cembolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France,\u201d and stated bluntly: \u201cAnti-Zionism is anti-Semitism \u2013 plain and simple\u201d \u2014 conflating the usual inaccurate talking point that to be against Palestinian suffering under Israel\u2019s genocide is to be against Judaism itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n The French Foreign Ministry swiftly rejected the ambassador\u2019s claims as \u201cunacceptable,\u201d reiterating that France is \u201cfully committed\u201d to combating anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n The statement expressed France\u2019s firm discrediting of Kushner\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n The ministry further stated that Kushner\u2019s remarks violated diplomatic norms, in particular the duty not to interfere in another nation\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n This diplomatic hotspot occurs amid broader tensions over Middle East policy. Kushner\u2019s letter follows a similar note from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also criticized Macron for his symbolic yet bold stance on recognizing a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n Macron, who has recently distanced himself from US and Israeli positions, has notably criticized Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza and expressed his country\u2019s willingness to recognize Palestine as a state.<\/p>\n In addition to France, many other major international powers have also criticized Israel for its inhumane starvation campaign and genocidal war in Gaza.<\/p>\n The UK, Canada, and Portugal have also<\/a> shown their readiness to recognize the statehood of Palestine in the upcoming 80th United Nations General Assembly, to be held in New York in September.<\/p>\n