France summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner after he published an open letter accusing President Emmanuel Macron’s government of not doing enough to combat rising antisemitism in his country.
In a statement published late Sunday, the French foreign ministry said it had summoned Kushner, the father of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to appear on Monday over what it called “unacceptable” allegations that “violate international law, particularly the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of states.”
Summoning an ambassador is a formal diplomatic tool used by host countries to express their disapproval. The French statement said Kushner’s allegations “fall short of the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result.”
Kushner’s open letter, published Sunday in the Wall Street Journal, noted the U.S. envoy’s “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.”
“President Trump and I have Jewish children and share Jewish grandchildren,” Kushner wrote. “I know how he feels about antisemitism.”
Antisemitic incidents have surged in France following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
France said it “firmly refutes” Kushner’s claims, adding that its “authorities are demonstrating total mobilization, as these acts [of antisemitism] are intolerable.”
Kushner’s letter followed France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, which is being spearheaded by Macron ahead of next month’s U.N. General Assembly. That sparked a vociferous response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed it was “fueling the antisemitic fire in France.”
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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