PARIS: France on Tuesday slammed as “abject” and “erroneous” an accusation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that President Emmanuel Macron’s move to recognize a Palestinian state was fueling antisemitism in his country.
France “protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens,” Macron’s office said, adding that a letter from Netanyahu containing his allegation “will not go unanswered.”
“This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation,” the French presidency added.
Last month, Macron said France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, the first G7 country to do so.
The move drew a swift rebuke from Israel. In a letter sent to Macron, seen by AFP, Netanyahu claimed that antisemitism had “surged” in France following the announcement.
“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,” Netanyahu wrote in the letter.
France is among at least 145 of the 193 UN members that now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, according to an AFP tally.
Australia joined the list earlier this month, announcing its intention to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
“Violence against the (French) Jewish community is intolerable,” the French presidency said.
“That is why, beyond criminal convictions, the president has systematically required all his governments since 2017 — and even more so since the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 — to show the strongest action against perpetrators of antisemitic acts,” it said.
Macron’s minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, separately said in reaction to Netanyahu’s letter that France has “no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism.”
The issue “which is poisoning our European societies” must not be “exploited,” Haddad added.
France is home to Europe’s biggest Jewish community.
Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.
France calls Netanyahu antisemitism claim ‘abject’
https://arab.news/pnx2z
France calls Netanyahu antisemitism claim ‘abject’
- Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire’
- Minister Delegate for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said that France has ‘no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism’
Sweden wants to strip organized crime leaders of citizenship
- A bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes”
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish government on Friday proposed changes to the constitution that would allow revoking the citizenship of some criminal gang leaders, as part of its work to combat widespread organized crime.
In January, a cross-party parliamentary committee proposed constitutional changes to allow stripping the passports of people with dual nationality convicted of espionage or treason, but stopped short of suggestions targeting organized crime.
“The government has chosen to go further than the committee’s proposal precisely to make it possible to also revoke citizenship from, for example, gang leaders who are guilty of very, very serious harm to society,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.
He said a bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes that gravely affect vital national interests” such as serious gang crime.
Sweden has been plagued by organized crime-related violence for well over a decade.
The government and its backers, the far-right and anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, won the 2022 election on a promise to reduce immigration and gang crime, which they say are linked. New general elections are due in 2026.
To change the Swedish constitution, the proposals need to pass a vote in parliament with a simple majority, followed by a general election and then a second Riksdag vote.
Strommer said he aims for the proposed changes to the constitution to enter into force at the start of 2027.
