News

Netanyahu crashes Paris unity march, French gov’t fumes

Yesterday millions took to the streets of Paris in a historic “unity” march in the wake of a shocking string of events including the Charlie Hebdo attack and a hostage standoff at a kosher supermarket which killed a total of 17 people. The march did not only attract Parisians wanting to mourn the traumatic events of the previous week, but also world leaders (despite some apparent contradictions). Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were in attendance, although reports have surfaced that the French government wanted to keep them both away.

Barak Ravid reports for Haaretz:

French President Francois Hollande conveyed a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend asking him not to come to Paris to take part in the march against terror on Sunday, according to an Israeli source who was privy to the contacts between the Elysees Palace and the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. The fact that this message had been conveyed was first reported by Channel 2.

After the French government began to send invitations to world leaders to participate in the rally against terror, Hollande’s national security adviser, Jacques Audibert, contacted his Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, and said that Hollande would prefer that Netanyahu not attend, the source said.

Audibert explained that Hollande wanted the event to focus on demonstrating solidarity with France, and to avoid anything liable to divert attention to other controversial issues, like Jewish-Muslim relations or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Audibert said that Hollande hoped that Netanyahu would understand the difficulties his arrival might pose and would announce that he would not be attending.

The source noted that one of the French concerns – not conveyed to representatives of the Israeli government – was that Netanyahu would take advantage of the event for campaign purposes and make speeches, especially about the Jews of France. Such statements, the Elysee Palace feared, would hurt the demonstration of solidarity the French government was trying to promote as part of dealing with the terror attacks.

Netanyahu reportedly first agreed to stay away, but then changed course upon learning that his political rivals Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett would be there.

Ravid continues:

When Netanyahu heard [Lieberman and Bennett] were going, he informed the French he would be attending the march after all.

According to the source, when Cohen informed Audibert that Netanyahu would be attending the event after all, Audibert angrily told Cohen that the prime minister’s conduct would have an adverse effect on ties between the two countries as long as Hollande was president of France and Netanyahu was prime minister of Israel.

And Hollande’s concerns about Netanyahu were well founded. The Israeli leader did seek to exploit the tragedy in a speech at the Grand Synagogue in Paris where he made the case for French Jews to leave the country for Israel. From The Jerusalem Post:

Netanyahu, careful not to overtly called for immediate immigration, said, “ I want to say to you what I say to all our Jewish brothers, that you have a full right to live secure and peaceful lives with equal rights wherever you desire, including here in France.”

Then he added, “these days we are blessed with another privilege, a privilege that didn’t exist for generations of Jews – the privilege to join their brothers and sisters in their historic homeland of Israel.”

Ravid reports Hollande was not happy:

Hollande’s anger at Netanyahu was evident during the ceremony held Sunday evening following the march at the Grand Synagogue in Paris, an event attended by hundreds of members of the local Jewish community.

Hollande sat through most of the ceremony, but when Netanyahu’s turn at the podium arrived, the French president got up from his seat and made an early exit.

Can you spot the tension?

From left: President of the Central Jewish Consistory of France, Joel Mergui, PM Netanyahu, French President Hollande and French PM Valls. In back: Lieberman and Bennett. Paris, Jan. 11, 2015. (Photo: AFP)
From left: President of the Central Jewish Consistory of France, Joel Mergui, PM Netanyahu, French President Hollande and French PM Valls. In back: Lieberman and Bennett. Paris, Jan. 11, 2015. (Photo: AFP)

Haaretz reports Netanyahu will be setting up a special ministerial committee “to discuss steps to encourage immigration from France and from Europe in general.”

He wasn’t the only Israeli political leader to make a similar appeal. Yair Lapid invoked the Holocaust to compel European Jews to immigrate to Israel: “I don’t want to speak in terms of Holocaust, but … European Jewry must understand that there is just one place for Jews, and that is the State of Israel.”

Ali Abunimah points out at Electronic Intifada Israel has worked to exploit the French violence in several ways:

While Netanyahu was certainly playing to a domestic audience, his presence in Paris is also part of Israel’s swift move to capitalize on the horror in France on a number of fronts: to attack the Palestinians, to sharpen the dangerous discourse of a “war of civilizations” and to speed up the population transfer of Jews from Europe.

So far the Israeli message has been rebuffed most strongly by European Jews themselves:

The head of the largest advocate for the Jewish organizations and communities in Europe sharply criticized Israel’s call for increased immigration of the Continent’s Jews to Israel in the wake of the attacks in Paris.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association, was quoted by the website nrg.co.il as saying that he regretted that “after every anti-Semitic attack in Europe, the Israeli government issues the same statements about the importance of aliyah [immigration to Israel], rather than employ every diplomatic and informational means at its disposal to strengthen the safety of Jewish life in Europe.”

NRG reported that Margolin said that Jews who have an attachment to Israel do not need this call, and they continue to emigrate to Israel in the wake of the events [like those] over the weekend in Paris. …”

The rabbi said that “every such Israeli campaign severely weakens and damages the Jewish communities that have the right to live securely wherever they are.”

321 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

“I don’t want to speak in terms of Holocaust, but” Lapid

“I am not a racist , but, ” I feel your pain having to live with non Jews in France or in any of the EU countries who bombard you with antisemitism both in word and deed.”Come to your home for Jews only , where you will be safer. Where you can live in Jews only housing and drive on Jews only roads .We are working hard to create that for you , so why not join us and be part of the movement. Come one, come all.

I need some deep holes dug for my new fence.Can you show me how netanyahu.

Nice of Bibi to encourage the old anti-Semitic suspicion about Jews’ loyalty – or lack thereof – to their nations. Mind you, both Bibi and his late predecessor Sharon have always reacted with glee to anti-Semitic attacks, especially in France, so this is nothing new.

But Hollande was a fool to allow this event to be exploited by the likes of bibi. He should not have invited world leaders at all, and instead allowed the ordinary people of France to express their grief. What do the likes of Merkel or Cameron, let alone bibi, have to do with this?

BTW was there any high level American present at the march? I don’t believe there was. Interesting.

Yair Lapid invoked the Holocaust to compel European Jews to immigrate to Israel: “I don’t want to speak in terms of Holocaust, but … European Jewry must understand that there is just one place for Jews, and that is the State of Israel.”

Mr. Lapid is clearly not afraid to put Jews in their (one) place!

I wonder what he would say if Mr. Hollande were to tell Jewish French citizens that there’s only one place for them and it’s not their homeland of France.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association … said that “every such Israeli campaign severely weakens and damages the Jewish communities that have the right to live securely wherever they are.”

Mr. Margolin’s comment is an affront to his “one place for Jews” and to his leader, King Bibi. Such disrespect!

Chief Rabbi doesn’t seem happy either with Netanyahu’s open invitation to the French Jews to leave for Israel. In an interview, he said he preferred that Jews remain in France and reminded the the common expression for a very happy person used to be “heureux comme un juif en France” and wished the situation would return as it was back then.

You tell ’em, Bibi! Those people need to leave France which is 10% Muslim and go live in Israel which is nearly 17% Muslim. Makes sense to me!