France Summons US Ambassador Kushner After He Accused Macron Of Fostering Antisemitism 

France has summoned the US ambassador in Paris over a diplomatic row and surprisingly blunt accusations involving Israel-Gaza policy. The spat started when Ambassador Charles Kushner published open letter to President Emmanuel Macron in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

Ambassador Charles Kushner accused the French government of not taking sufficient action to curb anti-Semitic violence, and further that its policies have been essentially rewarding Hamas and emboldening antisemitic violence. Kushner’s elder son Jared is the husband of Ivanka Trump, and President Trump has previously given Charles full legal pardon after he was convicted of past illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering in connection with his real estate business, Kushner Companies.

Kushner’s open letter condemned France’s recent declaration that it will recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in September. It accused the Macron government of fostering policies which “endanger Jewish life in France.”

“Public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France,” he wrote. “In today’s world, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism– plain and simple,” he claimed.

Kushner then listed off a series of actions President Trump has taken to push back on antisemitism in American society, and then said: 

Today, many French Jews fear that history will repeat itself in Europe. Parents encourage their children to emigrate; surveys show most French citizens believe another Holocaust could happen in Europe. Nearly half of French youth report never having heard of the Holocaust at all. What are children being taught in French schools if such ignorance persists?

But Paris has not bowed to these arguments, but swiftly summoned the US ambassador to lodge formal complain.

“France firmly refutes these latest allegations,” a Sunday Foreign Ministry statement said. “The allegations from the ambassador are unacceptable.” It added that France is “fully committed” to fighting anti-Semitism and that it is not tolerated.

The Foreign Ministry’s further accused Kushner’s comments over-reach and potentially damaging US-France relations, as they went “against international law, and in particular the duty not to interfere in internal matters of states” by diplomatic personnel.

“Furthermore, they do not live up to the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result between allies,” it added.

But it appears Kusher’s op-ed, or open letter to Macron was approved at the highest levels of the Trump administration. This should come as no surprise given the hardline pro-Israel supporters in Trump’s cabinet and the White House.

US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner marked the 81st anniversary of Paris’s liberation by warning President Emmanuel Macron of a “surge of antisemitism,” declaring “anti-Zionism is antisemitism, period,” and urging France to “enforce hate laws without exception.”

He pointed… pic.twitter.com/cmnNK0jSEp

— AF Post (@AFpost) August 25, 2025

When asked about it, US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott replied, “Ambassador Kushner is our US government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role.”

Kushner in his letter had at one point directly appealed for the following: “Mr. President, I urge you to act decisively: enforce hate-crime laws without exception; ensure the safety of Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses, prosecute offenders to the fullest extent; and abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies” – in the statement addressed to Macron.