Charles Kushner wrote an open letter asking French President Emmanuel Macron to ease criticism of Israel.
According to Macron, France will recognize Palestine in September
France intends to recognize Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, President Emmanuel Macron hopes to bring peace to the region, but the plan has sparked anger from Israel and the United States.
- “The ambassador’s allegations are unacceptable,” the French Foreign Ministry said of the open letter released by Ivanka Trump’s stepfather, Charles Kushner.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Macron of contributing to anti-Semitism by seeking international recognition of the Palestinian state.
PARIS — France summoned the stepfather of US ambassador Charles Kushner-Ivanka Trump after writing to French President Emmanuel Macron, claiming it had failed to stop anti-Semitic violence against the French president, a spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Kushner, a Jewish man and whose son is married to President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, has published an open letter in the Wall Street Journal amid deep divisions between France, the United States and Israel.
In the letter, he said that the French government’s statement on its recognition of the Palestinian state promoted the French anti-Semitism incident, urging French President Macron to enforce hate crime laws more urgently and promote Israeli criticism.
“France learned of the US ambassador’s allegations, Charles Kushner, in a letter to the President of the Republic, expressed concern about the rise in anti-Semitism in France and stated that it was a suspicion of a lack of sufficient action by French authorities to fight them,” the ministry said on August 24.
“The ambassador’s claim is unacceptable,” the ministry said.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Kushner’s letter follows another letter sent by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Macron from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week, which accused Netanyahu of contributing to anti-Semitism.
Macron has emerged as one of the stronger critics of Netanyahu’s war prosecution in Gaza, particularly with regard to Palestinian civilian casualties, but Trump has a solid support for Israeli leaders.
“A public statement harns Israeli gestures towards acknowledging the explosive extremism, fuel violence and the danger of Jewish lives in France. In today’s world, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic,” Kushner wrote.
Kushner’s son Jared Kushner is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who converted to Judaism before his wedding in 2009.
Macron has publicly criticised opposition to French values and anti-Semitism as an increase in security in response to anti-Semitism incidents related to the Gaza conflict, in order to protect synagogues and other Jewish centres.
