Will France change course and end its opposition to Judaism? - opinion

This week’s French elections and the possibility of the country having its first far-Right prime minister since World War II has triggered once again the “France question” which has a Jewish angle. Indeed, France’s “Jewish question” has been front and center through three events in the early summer of 2024. For the second time in about 80 years, France pledged collaboration with efforts to arrest Jews.

When Germany invaded France in 1940, it demanded that France arrest its Jews and the country complied, with thousands of Jews dying as a result of collaboration. France has yet to come to terms with its role in the genocide of its Jews. Generations of French have been indoctrinated with the excuse that France had no choice, that the arrest warrants were issued by a stronger power that had control of France. It was not France’s fault, it was Germany’s.

Once more, France has been quick to pledge its collaboration with the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s plans to issue arrest warrants against Jews, accusing them of crimes similar to those that Jews have been accused of throughout the centuries, such as the maltreatment of children and other crimes against humanity – although the 2024 version of French anti-Jewish behavior is arguably more explicit than in the 1940s.

Then, France attempted to resist the German invasion, and even after it failed to do so, many in France refused to collaborate with Germany’s efforts to arrest Jews. Indeed, 4,150 French individuals who risked their lives to save Jews are recognized by Yad Vashem and the Israeli government as “Righteous Among the Nations.”

How the French government has changed in its approach to Jews

IN 2024, not only has the French government not resisted, but instead has rushed to pledge its collaboration. This, in turn, encourages the ICC to issue such warrants.

Imagine France stating in advance in 1940 that should Germany invade, it would collaborate and arrest its Jews. Such a statement was never issued, but it is possible that the deeply rooted antisemitic ideology in France and throughout Europe factored into Germany’s decision to start World War II. The Nazis likely calculated that they would find sympathizers in the countries they invaded, with the invading enemy, Germany, providing a desired “service” in ridding France of its Jews – helping to end what was then known by antisemites as “Jewish France.”

The ICC-issued warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have begun to lay the groundwork for the en masse arrest of Israeli Jews – the soldiers who commit the alleged war crimes specified by the ICC and their supporters. In short, all Israeli Jews. Moreover, it is clear that such arrest warrants may be issued without prior notice. France has stated that it would arrest Netanyahu even in the middle of a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron if a warrant were issued. Some international law scholars view such potential French actions as a causus belli, an “act of war.”

THEODOR HERZL, the father of Zionism, who studied French politics for four years from the press balcony of the French parliament, understood that the European opposition to Judaism is chronic, and that it evolves based on changing Jewish and European circumstances.

In his time, conventional wisdom held that European Jew-hatred was over because the ideology of opposition to Judaism had been religious-based, Europe had become secular, and the Jews were emancipated. However, in the late 19th century, a new ideology of opposition to Judaism emerged, now directed to the successful emancipated Jew: antisemitism. A debate arose as to whether antisemitism was a form of Jew hate or merely a legitimate criticism of Jewish behavior. Today, a new ideology of European opposition to Judaism has emerged – Israel-bashing.

By 2024, it has become evident that Israel-bashing is engulfing parts of France and Europe, just as the antisemitism did a century ago. Indeed, the Israel-bashing ideology manifested itself in the second act that triggered France’s Jewish question in the summer of 2024: the exclusion of Israeli companies from Eurosatory 2024, a weapons trade show where they were set to present. This marks an escalation in France’s opposition to Judaism, from collaboration in arrests of Jews to attempts to sabotage the Jewish state’s economy, as Israel’s defense industry is a $12.5 billion industry.

A further escalation came with the deployment of the old “Jews-out” – a staple of European history, this time with a caveat: Israeli Jews would not be allowed, but Jews from other countries would. This is also reminiscent of 19th-century France’s opposition to Judaism, where there was an attempt to separate “good Jews” from “bad Jews” by distinguishing between “juif” and “Israelite.” This did not work then – both “good Jews” and “bad Jews” were murdered by French collaborators and the Nazis – and certainly does not work now.

Making matters worse, a French court originally approved the ban, effectively giving official certification to Israel-bashing in France. However, the decision was later overturned in a higher court.

And then came this week’s success of the far-Right in the elections, which frightened many Jews. This is understandable, since Last century’s attempt to eradicate Judaism came from the far-right. No matter one’s political views, it is important to recognize that the existential threat to Judaism has shifted.

JUST AS in the 20th century, the existential threat no longer stemmed from a religious-based ideology of hate but from the relatively new ideology of antisemitism, today in the 2020s the existential threat no longer stems from antisemitism but from the relatively new hate ideology of Israel-bashing.

As discussed in this column, Israel-bashing is an existential threat to all Jews, including those who bash Israel themselves. During the Gaza war, that ideology has matured and gained structure, organization, massive funding, and credibility. World leaders have been taking part in recycling the same biles heard in Europe throughout the centuries such as: “Jews (in Israel) dehumanize others,”  “Jews (in Israel) kill babies.” Once again, France’s Jewish question projects onto the greater France question. In the early 20th century, that country’s opposition to Judaism destabilized France and then the world, as the country was torn between Dreyfuss supporters outraged by the French government’s framing a French Jewish officer for treason, and those anti-Dreyfus who viewed the affair to be a referendum on “Jewish France.”

Today, Israel-bashing is destabilizing global security.

Perhaps the summer of 2024 and a new government in France is an opportunity for the French to finally address their Jewish question, acknowledge its past, change course, and abandon their opposition to Judaism. ■

The writer is the author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com).