Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a blistering ultimatum to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, demanding action against rising antisemitism by the Jewish New Year and directly linking France’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state to violent attacks on French Jews.
In a scathing letter to the French president, Netanyahu opened with his concern about “the alarming rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of decisive action by your government to confront it.” He noted that antisemitism has plagued French cities for years, but argued it has surged since the French president’s “public statements attacking Israel and signaling recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu then connected the violence to the October 7 Hamas attack, writing that “following Hamas’s savage attack on the people of Israel on October 7, 2023, pro-Hamas extremists and left-wing radicals began a campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and violence against Jews across Europe.” In France specifically, Netanyahu argued, “that campaign has intensified on your watch.”
Netanyahu cited multiple violent incidents across France, including the August beating and robbery of a Jewish man wearing a kippah who was robbed of his Star of David necklace in Livry-Gargan. Days earlier, he noted, vandals sprayed the Paris office of El Al airline with red paint and graffiti branding it a “genocide airline.” In June, arsonists targeted a Jewish primary school in Lyon, defacing it with swastikas and pro-Palestinian slogans. The letter also highlighted assaults on rabbis in the streets of Paris.
“These are not isolated incidents. They are a plague,” Netanyahu wrote, directly blaming Macron’s diplomatic positions for the violence. “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement.” He accused this policy of rewarding “Hamas terror” and hardening “Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages” while emboldening “those who menace French Jews.”
Netanyahu then employed a stark warning to underscore his demands: “President Macron, antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retreats when leaders act.”
Netanyahu contrasted France’s approach with President Donald Trump’s anti-antisemitism policies, praising the American leader for “protecting the civil rights of American Jews, enforcing the law, protecting public order and prosecuting antisemitic crimes,” while also deporting Hamas sympathizers and revoking visas of foreign students who “incite violence against Jews.”
The letter concluded with a clear deadline: Netanyahu called on Macron to “replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve” by September 23, 2025, the Jewish New Year. “History will not forgive hesitation. It will honor action,” he warned.
France’s response was immediate and fierce. The Élysée Palace denounced Netanyahu’s accusations as “abject” and “erroneous,” declaring that “France protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens” and that the letter “will not go unanswered.”
“The claim that France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state as early as September is the cause of the rise in antisemitic violence in France is incorrect, outrageous, and will not go unanswered,” the Élysée Palace said in a statement. “This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation,” the French presidency added.
Benjamin Haddad, France’s minister for Europe, rejected Netanyahu’s criticism outright, stating that France has “no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism” and warning that the issue, “which is poisoning our European societies,” must not be “exploited.”
The confrontation comes on the same day Netanyahu engaged in a similar battle with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whom he labeled a “weak politician who abandoned Australia’s Jews.” The clash with Australia erupted after Canberra banned Israeli Knesset member Simcha Rothman from entering the country on Monday for a solidarity mission to embattled Jewish communities, citing concerns he might “radicalize Muslims.”
Israel responded to Australia’s travel ban by expelling Australian Palestinian Authority diplomats, escalating the diplomatic crisis. The confrontation with Australia reflects a broader pattern of tensions, as Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef previously praised Albanese as “courageous” for his Palestinian statehood calls.
Macron announced in July that France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the U.N. General Assembly in September, joining other Western allies like Canada and Australia in signaling support for Palestinian statehood recognition.
Both confrontations reflect Netanyahu’s consistent warning that recognizing Palestinian statehood would create a “Hamastan” — a Hamas-controlled terrorist state. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar recently told France and Canada that if they support Palestinian statehood, they should “establish it on your territory.” Dutch politician Geert Wilders similarly suggested Macron could “create a new Palestinian state in southern France” if he genuinely supports the cause.
Hamas leaders have openly boasted that their October 7 massacre successfully spurred Western recognition of Palestinian statehood. As one Hamas official declared, the October 7 attack produced the “fruits” of increased international support for Palestinian statehood claims — a development that directly validates Netanyahu’s warnings about rewarding terrorism.
Netanyahu’s ultimatum sets up a potential diplomatic crisis as the September deadline approaches, with France showing no signs of backing down despite Israeli pressure. The confrontation reflects deepening divisions between Israel and its traditional Western allies, with Netanyahu increasingly willing to directly challenge European leaders he views as emboldening antisemitism through diplomatic concessions to Palestinian demands.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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