France infuriated by US ambassador’s antisemitism warning

French officials bristled at Ambassador Charles Kushner’s claim that government hostility toward Israel endangers French Jews.

By World Israel News Staff

The French Foreign Ministry expressed outrage at U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner after he warned that government rhetoric hostile to Israel was fueling antisemitism in the country. Paris confirmed it had summoned the diplomat for a formal conversation following his sharp criticism.

Kushner, a Jewish real estate magnate whose son Jared is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, published an open letter in the Wall Street Journal warning about the increasingly hostile atmosphere toward Jews and Israel in France.

In the letter, addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, Kushner wrote that “public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France. In today’s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism — plain and simple.”

He added that in France, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized. Your own Interior Ministry has reported antisemitic incidents even at preschools.”

Despite the sharp rise in antisemitic attacks, harassment, and violence in France since the October 7 Hamas massacres, French authorities were deeply offended by Kushner’s suggestion that government policies hostile to Israel encourage antisemites.

“France has learned of the allegations made by the United States Ambassador, Mr. Charles Kushner, who, in a letter to the President of the Republic, expressed his concern about the rise in antisemitic acts in France and noted the alleged lack of sufficient action by the French authorities to combat them,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The Ambassador’s allegations are unacceptable,” the ministry added, announcing that Kushner would be summoned for a meeting with French officials on Monday.

Macron has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military campaign against Hamas since the onset of the war. Last month, France announced it would formally recognize a Palestinian state in September — a move Israel denounced as rewarding Hamas’ terror.