The French are heading back to school. In this usually optimistic time, full of good resolutions and determination, this year, on the contrary, an atmosphere of worry and fatalism reigns. The political outlook, first of all, promises uncertain times, at a time when our country can no longer afford the luxury of instability.
For French Jews, this summer of 2025 will also have been one of great vertigo, provoked by strong anti-Semitic upheavals. Who, around them, does not hear the echo of Jewish families now wondering aloud about their future, worried to see hatred of Jews becoming more commonplace every day?
Whether the tree is chopped down in homage to Ilan Halimi or the cars of Jewish tourists are tagged with "Free Palestine," the main ingredient is always the same: an obsessive and caricatured approach to the conflict in the Middle East, through the essentialization of all Jews, assigned to answer for events taking place 3,000 km away. In short, hatred of Israel has become the fuel for hatred of Jews. While ready-made thinking has become the engine of ready-made hatred.
Faced with this surge of hatred, the challenge we face is simple: will France become, before our eyes, a country that is fundamentally, profoundly anti-Zionist?
Because, ultimately, the risk is not so much that France will become an anti-Semitic country, a possibility against which, I am certain, there are still solid institutional or political safeguards. The risk is that tomorrow in France and Europe there will be a cultural hegemony of hatred of Israel.
However, whatever one may think of the war in Gaza or the political choices of the Israeli government, whatever the legitimate feelings regarding the distress of civilian populations that no one can ignore, those who imagine that Jews could live peacefully in a country that would one day become radically hostile to Israel are mistaken.
To do this, we only need to look at history: let us never forget that it was hatred of Israel that drove the Jews out of the Arab-Muslim world after 1948. Let us never forget that the policies that actually drove the Jews out of the Soviet bloc after the war were officially anti-Zionist and not explicitly anti-Semitic.
So the debates today do not only concern the French view of the government or the policy of Israel but also the long-term condition of Jews in French society.
In this context, the mobilization of public authorities to secure synagogues and Jewish living spaces in consultation with community institutions, as well as efforts in terms of education and Holocaust Remembrance, are real. It is our collective responsibility to remind those in France or abroad who are unaware or forget it.
But if we are protected—and we are grateful for it—the idea is growing that, too often, we are no longer understood by a part of French society. Our concern about France's unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state in a few weeks is one of the symptoms of this incomprehension. So let us repeat: our rejection of unconditional recognition of a Palestinian state is first and foremost that of French republican citizens worried to see this gesture of our diplomacy vindicate La France Insoumise (LFI) and its hysteria of the public debate on Gaza since October 7. Worried about this tragic symbol when there are still hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Worried to see this gesture ultimately discredit direct dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, the only option for one day achieving peace.
All summer, the CRIF has been on the front lines, tirelessly mobilized, both nationally and in every region of France. Each time, we have defended the right of French Jews to live peacefully in France, reminding everyone that fighting anti-Semitism is always about defending the Republic. As we return to this eventful new school year, rest assured once again of my total commitment, as well as that of the CRIF teams and elected officials.
From now on, I invite you to join me every Friday at 12:15 p.m. to continue calling together for the release of the hostages and wish each and every one of you a good start to the new school year, with the certainty that as long as we remain united and faithful to our profoundly republican, resolutely Zionist and passionately humanist ideals, nothing will be able to extinguish the light of hope.
This editorial was originally published in French by the CRIF.
