Diplomatic Dust-Up: France Rebukes US Envoy Kushner Over Antisemitism Claims

 

France has taken the extraordinary step of summoning U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner to the Foreign Ministry, an unusual and public rebuke following his "unacceptable" comments about the country's handling of antisemitism. The diplomatic row was sparked by a letter Kushner sent to French President Emmanuel Macron, which he later published as an op-ed in the *Wall Street Journal*.

In the piece, titled "A Letter to Emmanuel Macron," Kushner claimed he was writing "out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it."

The French Foreign Ministry was quick to fire back, stating that Kushner's allegations were not only "unacceptable" but also violated a core diplomatic principle that forbids foreign envoys from interfering in their host country's domestic affairs. The ministry's statement emphasized that the claims "fall short of the quality of the transatlantic partnership" and the trust expected between allies.

The controversy comes amid a documented rise in antisemitic incidents in France, which have been linked to the fallout from the Israeli military operation in Gaza. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported attacks on various targets, including the national Holocaust memorial, synagogues, and a Jewish-owned restaurant.

Kushner, a real estate developer and father of Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, has a controversial past. He served a federal prison sentence for crimes including tax evasion and witness tampering, before being pardoned by Trump in 2020.