'Blaming Jews has become the default mode,' President Herzog addresses a delegation of French Jewish leaders
Herzog said boycotts and sanctions harm the Palestinians first and absolve Hamas leadership of responsibility
"What we are seeing in Europe today is that blaming the Jews has become, once again, the default mode, the easiest solution, a cathartic and satisfying disguise for the anger and disappointment over Europe’s own failings and fears." This is what Israeli President Isaac Herzog said to a visiting delegation of the Consistoire, the central religious institution of French Jewry.
The delegation of community leaders and public officials from across France was led by Consistoire President Élie Korchia and included the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia.
Herzog began by acknowledging how the community was feeling. "I know that it has not been an easy time to be a Jew in the world. It certainly has not been an easy time to be a Jew in France," he said. He then described what that has meant for Jewish communities, alluding to the antisemitism in Europe during the 20th century which led to the Holocaust.
"In a Europe that not so long ago turned on its Jews and on itself, today Israel is demonized, while its Jewish communities contract in fear, forced, once again, into a defensive posture between two identities, and denied, once again, simple, safe belonging."
Herzog drew a line between criticism and what he sees now. "Disagreeing with Israel on its strategy or on its political venue is legitimate debate," Herzog said. "But that is not what's going on in Europe and in France. What we are seeing in Europe today is pure scapegoating."
The President called the blanket rejection of Israel and attempts to isolate it "a grave error."
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On boycotts and sanctions, Herzog was blunt. "Calling for boycotts and sanctions is not simply morally wrong. It reflects a deep alienation from Europe's own intellectual inheritance while speaking to the darkest shadows of its past." He said, adding, "Boycotts and sanctions harm, first and foremost, the Palestinians, robbing them of jobs and income. At the same time, they absolve corrupt Hamas leadership of any responsibility for their rabid antisemitism or for their crimes against their own people."
Herzog closed on a hopeful note about the two countries. "I would like to see Israeli and French entrepreneurs and scientists, artists and teachers, investors, and companies doing far more together," he said. "I believe in this with my whole heart."