Will the US hold Macron accountable for the rise in French anti-Semitism?

Judaism is under a double attack: a physical attack from Iran and its proxies and an ideological attack from the West.

Over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron linked the two when he announced that France would no longer supply Israel with weapons used in the war against Hamas and encouraged others to do the same.

This is an astonishing development with historical consequences. War is a zero-sum game. If you want to support a party in war, you can either provide weapons to that party or try to prevent weapons from the party fighting against them.

A year ago, the idea that Macron would call on the world to effectively support Hamas in its war against the Jewish state would have been unthinkable and dismissed as paranoia. But on October 5, 2024, on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, it actually happened.

The Elyse Palace then assured that France remains committed to Israel’s physical defense, citing its role in intercepting Iranian missile attacks on October 1 and April 14.

The political atmosphere has contributed to the feeling that France is losing stability and becoming inhospitable to Jews. (Source: Chen Schimmel/The Jerusalem Post)

In fact, the larger impact of Macron’s October 5 announcement may not be the potential loss of $33 million worth of French weapons used to repel the physical attack on the Jewish state, but rather the headwinds that Macron is currently facing has provided an ideological attack on Judaism that is rapidly becoming an existential threat to the survival of Judaism.

Macron’s statement comes four months after France pledged to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutors are seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant and pave the way for the mass arrest of Israeli soldiers. This would be the second time in 80 years that France complied with arrest warrants issued against mass Jews.

From follower to leader of the attack

Until this weekend, France, as in the 1940s, hid behind the attitude that it was “just following orders.” But with Macron’s call to impose an embargo against the Jewish state, France is no longer a passive follower. It has only given a huge boost to the ICC’s efforts and confirmed that Israel’s actions in Gaza are indeed so evil that they warrant a global embargo against the Jewish state.

Furthermore, Macron’s October 5 plea gives the various other fronts in the ideological attack on Judaism legitimacy from a major world power. It confirmed not only in words but also in actions that there is a bad actor – the Jewish state – that must be dealt with. It brings back the “Jewish question” that has been lying dormant for 80 years and is now resurfacing in the form of the “Jewish state question”: – What to do with these misbehaving Jews?

In fact, France has never come to terms with its role in the 20th century attempt to eradicate Judaism. So much so that in 2020, Macron declared his plan to honor Marshal Petain, murderer of Jews in France and head of the collaborationist Vichy government, for his role in the First World War. Macron later withdrew the plan under pressure from the United States.

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Perhaps it is time for France to take responsibility for the murder of its Jews and, for its own sake, pay compensation to the Jewish victims, as Germany does. If France paid for its role in the attack on Judaism in the 20th century, it might be less enthusiastic about taking a leading role in the attack on Judaism in the 21st century.

But France is unlikely to do this of its own accord – both for political reasons and for pride.

Looking to America

The only way to contain escalating French aggression is through the United States.

As the ICC laid the groundwork for arrests of U.S. military personnel in 2020, President Trump imposed strict sanctions on ICC prosecutors, staff and families. But President Biden not only failed to sanction the ICC for its attempt to arrest Israelis in 2024, but also looked the other way when France pledged to cooperate with the ICC — “outrageous” actions, to use President Biden’s words

As Macron made his new “outrageous” plea on October 5, all eyes are now on President Biden. Will the USA look the other way again? Or will it hold France accountable for its efforts to turn the Western world against the country it defends from the reign of terrorism?

As 2024 begins, The Jerusalem Post asked various writers, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid, to share their thoughts on what a post-October 7 world will look like in a special magazine titled “The Day After.” My own article in this magazine was entitled: “After Gaza, Israel will wage a multi-front ideological war with the West.”

Nine months later, as the Jewish New Year began and Israel wages a brutal physical war for its survival, Macron reminded us that the greatest threat to Judaism’s survival comes from the ideological attack that is coming from the West and is accelerating with it alarming speed.

Gol Kalev is the author of the new book: The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat is Coming from the West (www.TheAssaultonJudaism.com). He is chairman of the think tank Judaism 3.0 and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com).

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