France summons U.S. Ambassador Kushner over ‘unacceptable’ letter about rising antisemitism
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WASHINGTON — France has summoned the U.S. ambassador to Paris after the diplomat, Charles Kushner, wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron accusing the country of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
France’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement Sunday announcing that it had summoned Kushner to appear Monday at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and that his allegations “are unacceptable.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott on Sunday evening said the department stood by Kushner’s comments, adding: “Ambassador Kushner is our U.S. government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role.”
The summoning of the ambassador is a formal and public notice of displeasure.
Kushner, a real-estate developer, is the father of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a former White House advisor,.
The French Foreign Ministry, in its statement, said that “France firmly rejects these allegations” from Kushner and that French authorities have “fully mobilized” to combat a rise in antisemitic acts since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, deeming the acts “intolerable.”
The contents of the letter were not released.
Kushner’s allegations violate international law and the obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another country, the French ministry said, and “they also fall short of the quality of the transatlantic partnership between France and the United States and of the trust that must prevail between allies.”
The dust-up follows Macron’s rejection last week of accusations from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state is fueling antisemitism.
France is home to the largest Jewish population in Western Europe, with an estimated 500,000 Jews — approximately 1% of the national population.
The diplomatic discord comes as French-U.S. relations have faced tensions this year amid Trump’s trade war and a split over the future of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon. France in particular has objected to the U.S. push to wind down the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, with a vote on the issue set for the end of the month by the U.N. Security Council.
France and the U.S. also have been divided on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the split has eased with Trump expressing support for security guarantees and a warm meeting with Macron and other European leaders at the White House last week.
Trump at the end of his first term as president pardoned Charles Kushner, who was imprisoned years earlier after pleading guilty to tax evasion, illegal campaign donations and witness tampering.
Price writes for the Associated Press.
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