The "Negation" of the existence of Israel as a state is a new form of anti-Semitism. This is what French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, January 22, on the first day of his visit to Jerusalem, on the occasion of the 75e anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi camp. The French head of state met in the morning with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, then with his counterpart, Réouven Rivlin, who welcomed French efforts to curb anti-Semitism including a recent resolution including anti-Zionism .
"Anti-Zionism, when it is the negation of the existence of Israel as a state, is anti-Semitism", Macron said during a press briefing with President Rivlin. "This does not mean that it would become impossible to have disagreements, to criticize such or such action of the government of Israel, but the negation of its existence today is indeed a contemporary form of anti-Semitism" , he hammered.
Macron said a year ago that he wanted to broaden the definition of anti-Semitism to anti-Zionism. The French parliament adopted a motion for a resolution to that effect last month, but it has aroused opposition, particularly from party officials who feared it would prevent criticism of Israel’s policies.
Invited with forty world leaders to celebrate Thursday the 75e On the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi camp, Macron also discussed Iran, a source of tension after the death of Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani in an American raid in Baghdad.
Trip to Ramallah
For his first visit to the Holy Land since he came to power in 2017, Emmanuel Macron will be the only one of the main leaders invited to Israel this week to make the trip to Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, to meet the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. This visit comes at a time when regional players are waiting for Washington to reveal the details of its Israeli-Palestinian peace project.
"It is not for France today to come up with a proposal on the table, I understood that others had, sometimes long overdue. Whatever peace process is possible is only if the parties involved want to build peace, then France will help and in the role which must be hers and will be hers ”, said the french president.
Before his departure, the Elysee Palace spared the two camps, criticizing Israel’s settlement policy as "A fait accompli policy", but promising for Thursday’s commemorations at the Yad Vashem Memorial a strong speech against anti-Semitism.
Like before him François Hollande and Jacques Chirac, Emmanuel Macron had to take a trip to East Jerusalem to visit the Sainte-Anne basilica, owned by France, before having lunch with the representatives of the Christian communities protected by France.
"I don't like what you did in front of me"
Saint Anne's basilica, built by the crusaders in the 12th centurye century and donated by the Ottoman Empire to France in 1856, is one of the four French territories in Jerusalem. In the morning, a slight clash took place near this site between a member of the Israeli security forces and members of Emmanuel Macron's security group.
A member of the Israeli security forces initially entered the basilica, which was owned by France, and then left it. When he tried to enter it again, he was expelled from it by members of the Presidency of the Republic Security Group (GSPR), reported several journalists present, including the photographer of the World Jean-Claude Coutausse. One of these journalists said that two men were caught by the collar.
Later in the day, Emmanuel Macron himself picked up the Israeli police who were bothering him to enter Saint Anne's Church. "I don’t like what you did in front of me" ("I don't like what you did in front of me"), the French president shouted to an Israeli policeman, asking him to leave the church.
#Macron gets angry with Israeli police in Jerusalem. In the footsteps of Chirac in 1996 https://t.co/DKP5ICThTK
Former French President Jacques Chirac had already demanded that Israeli soldiers leave the Sainte-Anne basilica, located in the old city of Jerusalem, in 1996, after having lost his temper against soldiers who surrounded him. by launching his famous "Do you want me to go back to my plane? " ("Do you want me to get back on my plane?"). A phrase that had made him immensely popular in the Arab world, and France with it.
Israel views the entire city as its capital, a position supported by Donald Trump who moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of the state they aspire to.
