The "negation of the existence of Israel as a state" is anti-Semitism, says Emmanuel Macron

An update. As revealed by the Parisian Monday, more than a third of the Jewish community feels threatened in France. It is in this context and that of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camp of Auschwitz that Emmanuel Macron affirmed this Wednesday that "anti-Zionism, when it is the negation of the existence of Israel as a State, is anti-Semitism ”, on the occasion of his visit to Jerusalem.

And the president clarified, during a press briefing with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin: "Which does not mean that it would become impossible to have disagreements, to criticize such or such action of the government of Israel but the negation of its existence today is a contemporary form of anti-Semitism ”.

Invited by Israel, along with some 40 world leaders, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camp at Auschwitz on Thursday, Macron arrived a day earlier for these diplomatic meetings. He met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday morning before his meeting with President Rivlin.

"The dark shadow of anti-Semitism is spreading, being reborn"

“In many of our countries, and this is also true for France, the dark shadow of anti-Semitism is spreading, being reborn […] and not just concerning the Jews but our common destiny and, as far as France, the whole Republic, "said Macron alongside the Israeli president.

In a message for the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, he defended his "fight" of "every day" against anti-Semitism, which he tracks down "in speeches, in behavior, on the internet".

Macron is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz and will visit the Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank in the afternoon.