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US envoy accuses France of failing to act on antisemitism

Joshua Marks

Charles Kushner, the new U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco, leaves the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris after a meeting with the French president on July 18, 2025. Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images.

The U.S. ambassador to France in a letter published on Sunday criticized the Macron government for its lack of action amid a sharp increase in Jew hatred in the country since the Hamas-led attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron published in the Wall Street Journal, Charles Kushner expressed his “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.” The letter goes on to state that “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized.”

The letter is dated Aug. 25, despite being published a day earlier, a date Kushner notes is “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil” under Nazi German occupation.

Antisemitism has “long scarred French life,” Kushner wrote, but has “exploded” since the Oct. 7 massacre and amid the subsequent war in Gaza.

He accused Macron of contributing to the escalating antisemitism through his harsh criticism of Israeli actions during nearly two years of fighting and by announcing intentions to recognize a Palestinian state next month at the United Nations meeting. Kushner wrote that such moves “embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France.”

“In today’s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism—plain and simple,” Kushner added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wrote a letter to Macron last week, in which he accused the French president of contributing to antisemitism by calling for international recognition of a Palestinian state. The United Kingdom, Malta, Canada and Australia have followed France in announcing their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state in September, with London stating that its intentions could be changed if Jerusalem meets certain demands.

Macron’s office rejected Netanyahu’s accusation as “abject” and “erroneous.”

In response to Kushner’s letter, Paris said on Sunday it would summon Kushner the next day. The French Foreign Ministry released a statement according to which it “firmly refutes” the allegations, which it considers “unacceptable.” The statement further accused Kushner of violating international law by allegedly interfering in domestic affairs and not meeting the “quality of the transatlantic link between France and the United States and the trust that must result from it between allies.”

The U.S. State Department stood by Kushner’s comments, with spokesperson Tommy Pigott adding on Sunday evening that “Ambassador Kushner is our U.S. government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role,” according to the Associated Press.

The 71-year-old real estate developer, whose son is Jared Kushner—a senior advisor during the first Trump term and who is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka—took the post on July 11. His portfolio also includes Monaco. The elder Kushner, born to Jewish Holocaust survivors, was reportedly named Chanan after a relative killed in a concentration camp.

“Surveys show most French citizens believe another Holocaust could happen in Europe. Nearly half of French youth report never having heard of the Holocaust at all. What are children being taught in French schools if such ignorance persists?” Kushner’s letter reads.

France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, with around half a million Jews and millions of Muslims.

Kushner wrote that he is ready to work with Macron and other French leaders to “forge a serious plan” to address the problem. In the summon statement, the foreign ministry asserted that French authorities have “fully mobilized” to tackle the rise in antisemitic acts, calling them “intolerable.”

In the latest reported antisemitic act, the manager of Parcours aérien Tyrovol, an outdoor adventure facility known for its aerial zipline course and located near Porté-Puymorens in southern France, refused entry to 150 Israelis aged 8 to 16, French media reported on Aug. 21, citing the Perpignan Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The manager was taken into police custody on suspicion of “discrimination based on religion in the provision of goods or services.”

On Aug. 20, “Free Palestine” graffiti was sprayed on Jewish-owned cars in Châtel, an Alpine town near the Swiss border. Many Jewish families vacation there during the summer. Nine cars belonging to Jewish vacationers were spray-painted with the words “Free Palestine” in the morning, according to a report by CNEWS.

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Trump Admin Reviewing Visas of ‘Terrorist Sympathizers’ Set to Appear at Palestinian Conference in Detroit

Corey Walker

Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The Trump administration is reviewing and may block the visa applications of speakers scheduled to appear at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Michigan later this week over links to terrorism, The Algemeiner has learned.

A spokesperson for the US State Department told The Algemeiner that officials have “noted” the gathering, set to take place from Aug. 29-31, and will closely monitor visa applications for invited international speakers, citing a preponderance of “terrorist sympathizers” on the program’s lineup. 

“Given the public invite lists seems to include a number of terrorist sympathizers, we are going through and ensuring all international speakers slated to attend the conference are being placed on a ‘look out’ status for visa applications, so we are alerted if a request is submitted and can ensure they are appropriately processed,” the spokesperson said.

“In every case, we will take the time necessary to ensure an applicant does not pose a risk to the safety and security of the United States and that he or she has credibly established his or her eligibility for the visa sought, including that the applicant intends to engage in activities consistent with the terms of admission,” the spokesperson added. 

The conference will feature dozens of radical anti-Zionist activists, academics, artists, and political organizers, including US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Tlaib’s appearance at last year’s iteration of the People’s Conference for Palestine sparked intense backlash, with critics pointing out the event’s connections to Wisam Rafeedie and Salah Salah, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization.

The conference is convened by a coalition that includes the Palestinian Youth Movement, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, among others. Several of these groups have maintained ties with PFLP, openly supported boycott efforts against Israel, and called for an arms embargo in the wake of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. The programming highlights sessions on “Documenting Genocide” and “Breaking the Siege,” rhetoric that critics argue mischaracterizes Israel’s actions as it seeks to defend itself against terrorist attacks following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

The Detroit gathering is expected to attract thousands of attendees, with dozens of speakers and activists scheduled to participate. Among the roster are well-known anti-Israel figures such as Linda Sarsour, Miko Peled, and Chris Smalls. Sarsour has erroneously compared Zionism to “white supremacy in America” and accused Israel of perpetuating “Jewish supremacy.”

Arabs comprise about 21 percent of Israel’s population and include full rights of citizenship, including the ability to serve in parliament and on the Supreme Court as well as the ability to protest openly against the government.

The planned presence of several foreign terror sympathizers has sparked outrage among observers. 

Abed Abubaker, a self-described “reporter” from Gaza, is expected to make a physical appearance at the Detroit conference. Abubaker has repeatedly praised the Hamas terrorist group as “resistance fighters” on social media and won a “journalist of the year” award from Iran’s state-controlled media outlet PressTV. In a January 2025 post, he showered praise on long-time Hamas leader and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, saying that the terrorist’s “love of resistance and land is seen very clearly.” In a March 2025 post, Abubaker posted that international supporters of the Palestinian cause should “attack your governments.” He also defended Hamas’s murdering of dissidents, saying that the victims were “collaborating” with Israel.

Some of the speakers have been convicted and imprisoned in Israel for terrorist activity.

Omar Assaf, a former member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Lama Ghosheh, a Palestinian journalist from East Jerusalem, are scheduled to speak at the conference. Assaf spent eight years in jail for his role in the DFLP, which was previously a US-designated terrorist group, and Ghosheh received a three-year sentence from an Israeli court in 2023 for inciting violence and praising terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza.

Mosab Abu Toha, a Gaza-born writer, is also set to appear at the conference. Abu Toha’s social media posts reveal he has denigrated the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, denied the murder of the Bibas children, and spread fake news and antisemitic remarks. In other posts, he referred to Israeli soldiers as “killers” and criticized international media for “humaniz[ing]” them.

Perhaps most striking, Hussam Shaheen was slated to speak at the conference. He spent 27 years in prison for attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder but was released earlier this year as part of a temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire that saw Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages. However, Shaheen’s name no longer appears on the list of speakers on the conference’s website.

US-based speakers also have extremist associations. Hatem Bazian, for example, co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that has become notorious for intimidating Jews on university campuses, as well as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a nonprofit he now chairs which has sponsored a series of anti-Israel protests following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Bazian works as a senior lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley. On Tuesday, The Algemeiner reported on recent comments by Bazian in which he accused Jews of exploiting antisemitism to make money and claimed that Israel wants to conquer most of the Middle East, including Mecca and Medina, the holiest sites in Islam.

The event will also host Mahmoud Khalil, one of the leaders of the anti-Israel encampment movement at Columbia University. Khalil rose to national prominence after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him in March for what the Department of Homeland Security alleged to be leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” Khalil, who became a permanent US resident last year, was released from detention in June when a federal judge ordered his release. The activist also drew scrutiny last month after he refused to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities during a CNN interview.

Since returning to the White House earlier this year, the Trump administration has launched an overhaul of the US visa system, part of what officials describe as an effort to root out individuals sympathetic to terrorism or those espousing antisemitic views. The sweeping measures include expanded social media vetting for new applicants, continuous monitoring of the 55 million current visa holders, and the revocation of thousands of student visas.

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Parents of captive IDF soldier Nimrod Cohen release footage of abduction

JNS Staff

Family members of hostage Nimrod Cohen hold a press conference in Tel Aviv after releasing footage from his abduction by Hamas terrorists, Aug. 25, 2025. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.

The parents of Nimrod Cohen, an Israel Defense Forces soldier taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, on Monday night released for publication footage of his abduction.

Cohen, 20, a tank gunner from the central city of Rehovot, was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 after his armored vehicle was attacked and overturned in the area of Kibbutz Nirim.

Cohen’s family identified him in Hamas propaganda videos released in the aftermath of the terrorist massacre, his father told JNS in July 2024.

“I knew something bad had happened because he was not responding to my WhatsApp messages. And then I saw him on a clip being dragged on the floor from his tank, that’s when I realized he had been abducted,” Yehuda Cohen said at the time.

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Former hostages have described harsh conditions in which Cohen has been held, including being confined in a small cage, shackled during interrogations and denied medical care for skin rashes and an ear infection, likely from a condition that developed in the Gazan tunnels.

The captive soldier sent a message through released hostages, telling his family: “I am OK. Don’t worry, I love you.”

Last week, Yehuda Cohen revealed that the family had been provided with videos found by the military in Gaza, including from his son’s captivity.

Cohen told reporters that the footage he was shown was more than a year old. “He says his name, that he is from Rehovot, something along the lines of ‘It’s time to release us.’ They filmed everyone and later decided when to release each video,” he said.

Fifty captives remain in Gaza, with 49 abducted 689 days ago and one, IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, taken in 2014. Of the 50, Israel presumes that 20 are alive, though there are serious fears for the lives of two hostages.

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US-France Tensions Rise Over Antisemitism as New Data Shows Sharp Increase in French Attacks

Ailin Vilches Arguello

US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron react on the day of a press conference, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

As Washington presses Paris over its handling of antisemitism, new data shows anti-Jewish hate crimes in France remain far above pre–Oct. 7, 2023, levels nearly two years after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

On Monday, the French Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Charles Kushner after he accused Paris of failing to act decisively against rising antisemitism targeting France’s Jewish community.

In a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, Kushner voiced his “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France” and criticized the French government for its “lack of sufficient action” to confront it.

However, French authorities rejected such claims as “unacceptable” and warned that Kushner’s letter violated international law.

“The rise in antisemitic acts in France since Oct. 7, 2023, is a reality that we deplore and to which the French authorities are responding with total commitment, as these acts are completely unacceptable,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Aurore Bergé, France’s minister for combating discrimination, stood by the government’s efforts to protect its citizens, saying its fight against antisemitism is “unequivocal.”

“This matter is far too serious. In my view, it is too important to be handled through the courts in a diplomatic context,” she said in an interview with Europe 1-CNews.

France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Oct. 7 atrocities. Jewish leaders have consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.

This latest diplomatic row comes as new figures from the French Interior Ministry show 646 antisemitic incidents were recorded from January to June this year — a drop from the previous year’s first-half record high but a 112.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, when 304 incidents were reported.

The wave of anti-Jewish hatred has continued unabated.

Earlier this month, for example, an olive tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, a young French Jewish man who was tortured to death in 2006, was vandalized and cut down in one of the latest antisemitic acts to spark outrage within the local Jewish community.

“In France, we are no longer safe, neither alive nor dead,” Halimi’s sister, Anne-Laure Abitbol, told RTL on Monday, adding that public denunciations are no longer enough and urging concrete action.

“I feel less safe in France,” she said. “By recognizing a Palestinian state, Macron is encouraging antisemitism and failing to take action against antisemitic attacks in the country.”

Last month, Macron announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September as part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Israeli officials have criticized the move, which was followed by several other Western countries, calling it a “reward for terrorism.”