Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded tougher action against antisemitism in France from President Emmanuel Macron after a series of vandalism attacks on Jewish sites in Paris over the weekend.
In the early hours of Saturday, May 31st, three synagogues, a Jewish restaurant, and a Holocaust memorial in Paris were defaced with green paint. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed his “immense disgust” over the attacks. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also denounced the acts, calling them “intimidations” and declaring that “antisemitism has no place in our city and in our republic.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu wrote on X: “The attacks on synagogues and a Holocaust memorial in Paris are a direct result of the rampant incitement against Jews in France.” He went further, urging Macron to abandon his diplomatic push for Palestinian statehood and instead “start acting against antisemitism in his own country.”
Tensions have escalated in the recent months since Macron has voiced support for recognizing Palestine as an independent state. Last week, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Macron of being on a “crusade against the Jewish state” after the French president urged tougher international pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
