Jerusalem.- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused French President Emmanuel Macron"of fueling anti-Semitic fires" by calling for international recognition of the State of Palestine, according to an official letter addressed to the French head of state.
"I call on you to replace weakness with action, calm with will, and to do so on a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025," adds the letter signed by Netanyahu, dated August 17, and transmitted to AFP on Tuesday.
In reaction to the letter, French Minister of European Affairs Benjamin Haddad told French broadcaster BMTV that France"has no lessons to learn in the fight against antisemitism."
"I would like to say very clearly and firmly that this issue of antisemitism, which poisons our European societies, cannot be exploited," he stated.
Haddad added that"we have seen an acceleration of violent antisemitic acts since the Hamas attacks of October 7, and the French authorities have always been mobilized against antisemitism."
In the letter to Macron, Netanyahu said,"I am concerned about the alarming rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of decisive action by your government to address it. In recent years, antisemitism has devastated French cities."
Netanyahu added that "since his public statements attacking Israel and signaling recognition of a Palestinian state, (anti-Semitism) has increased."
"Following Hamas's savage attack on the Israeli people on October 7, 2023, pro-Hamas extremists and left-wing radicals launched a campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and violence against Jews across Europe," a campaign that "intensified in France" under Macron, the Israeli prime minister said.
"His call for a Palestinian state fuels that anti-Semitic fire. (...) It rewards Hamas terror, reinforces Hamas's refusal to release the hostages, emboldens those who threaten French Jews, and fosters the Jew-hatred that now roams its streets," Netanyahu charges.
President Macron announced at the end of May that France will recognize the State of Palestine in September, on the occasion of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
