France summoned the American ambassador Charles Kushner after he wrote a letter to President Emmanuel Macron alleging France had failed to do enough to stem antisemitic violence, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday, reports The Guardian.
Kushner, who is Jewish and whose son is married to U.S President Donald Trump’s daughter, published the open letter in the Wall Street Journal amid deep divides between France and the US and Israel.
Kushner’s letter to Macron noted that Monday was “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil” under Nazi German occupation.
He wrote: “I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it...
“In France, not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,” he added.
In the letter, he urged French president Emmanuel Macron to more urgently enforce hate-crime laws and tone down criticism of Israel, saying French government statements about recognising a Palestinian state have fuelled antisemitic incidents in France.
While “antisemitism has long scarred French life”, the ambassador argued that hatred of Jews “has exploded since Hamas’s barbaric assault on October 7, 2023,” which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
“France firmly refutes these latest allegations,” said a foreign ministry statement in response, hours after the letter’s contents were made public.
“The Ambassador’s allegations are unacceptable,” the ministry said, adding Kushner would be due to appear on Monday.
The ministry said the 1961 Vienna Convention meant ambassadors were not permitted to interfere in a country’s internal affairs. Kushner would be summoned to the foreign ministry on Monday, it added.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.