France summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner in August 2025 after he accused French authorities of failing to respond adequately to rising antisemitism. Paris rejected that accusation as “unacceptable†and said the ambassador's intervention contravened the duty of non-interference set out in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The dispute came amid a documented rise in antisemitic acts in France following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, as well as increasingly sharp disagreements among France, Israel and the United States over the Gaza war and French President Emmanuel Macron's plan to recognize a Palestinian state.
What Kushner Said and Why France Objected
Kushner made his allegations in a letter to Macron that was published in The Wall Street Journal. He argued that antisemitism had risen dramatically in France and criticized what he considered an insufficient response by the French government. He also linked the political climate to criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian statehood.
France did not dispute that antisemitism had increased. In its official response, the Foreign Ministry said the rise in antisemitic acts since October 7, 2023 was a reality and that French authorities were fully mobilized against it. What Paris rejected was Kushner's allegation that the authorities had failed to act sufficiently.
The ministry also said the ambassador's intervention ran counter to the duty not to interfere in a host country's internal affairs under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Article 41 of the convention states that diplomats have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the receiving state. France announced that Kushner would be summoned to the Quai d'Orsay on August 25.
The disagreement therefore involved two separate questions: the documented problem of antisemitism in France, which French authorities acknowledged, and Kushner's criticism of how the French government was addressing it, which Paris disputed.
Antisemitism in France Was a Documented Concern
The underlying concern about antisemitic violence was not merely rhetorical. French authorities recorded antisemitic incidents at historically high levels following the October 7 attack. Later French Interior Ministry figures showed that 1,320 antisemitic acts were recorded in 2025. That represented a 16% decline from 2024 but remained, according to the ministry, at a historically high level compared with the previous 25 years.
Those figures provide important context for the diplomatic dispute: French officials acknowledged the severity of antisemitism while rejecting the ambassador's characterization of the government's response.
Netanyahu and Macron Were Already in Dispute
Kushner's intervention followed a separate dispute between Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu had accused Macron of contributing to antisemitism by promoting recognition of a Palestinian state and argued that such recognition would reward Hamas.
The French presidency rejected Netanyahu's accusation and maintained that fighting antisemitism was a continuing responsibility of the French state. The disagreement reflected a broader diplomatic divide over Gaza and the political future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rather than a shared assessment of the causes of antisemitic incidents in France.
At the time of the Kushner dispute, France had announced its intention to recognize the State of Palestine at the United Nations in September 2025. Macron presented recognition as part of an effort to preserve a negotiated two-state solution. Israel strongly opposed the move, while the Trump administration also opposed unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.
France Later Recognized the State of Palestine
The planned diplomatic step subsequently took place. On September 22, 2025, Macron formally announced France's recognition of the State of Palestine at the United Nations in New York.
Macron said recognition was intended to preserve the possibility of Israel and Palestine living alongside each other in peace and security. He also argued that recognizing Palestinian rights did not diminish Israel's rights or France's commitment to Israeli security, and explicitly presented the decision as opposed to Hamas and antisemitic hatred.
That later development is important because, when Kushner's letter triggered the diplomatic confrontation in August, recognition was still an announced French policy rather than a completed diplomatic act.
The Gaza War and Humanitarian Crisis
The diplomatic confrontation unfolded against the wider Gaza war. Hamas-led attackers killed about 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli authorities, and 251 people were taken hostage. Israel subsequently launched a large-scale military campaign in Gaza.
By August 2025, the humanitarian situation had deteriorated severely. On August 22, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed Famine (IPC Phase 5), with reasonable evidence, in Gaza Governorate as of August 15. The IPC said more than half a million people across the Gaza Strip were facing catastrophic food-security conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death.
The classification was geographically specific: it confirmed famine in Gaza Governorate rather than declaring the entire Gaza Strip to be in famine. The IPC said conditions in North Gaza Governorate appeared similarly severe or worse but that insufficient evidence prevented a formal classification there. It also projected famine thresholds could be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis if conditions continued to deteriorate.
Israel rejected the IPC's famine assessment and disputed aspects of its methodology and data. The IPC's Famine Review Committee, meanwhile, said the available evidence supported the famine classification and called for an immediate large-scale humanitarian response.
For more background on the humanitarian assessment, see News Fusion 365's coverage of the Gaza famine classification and food-security crisis.
Why the Diplomatic Clash Mattered
The episode exposed several overlapping disputes that were often conflated in political rhetoric. France and the United States remained longstanding allies, but their governments disagreed over aspects of Gaza policy and Palestinian recognition. France and Israel also disagreed sharply over whether recognition would support a future negotiated settlement or undermine Israel's security objectives.
Separately, antisemitism in France was a serious and documented domestic security problem. The disagreement between Kushner and the French government concerned the adequacy of France's response and the ambassador's attempt to connect French Middle East policy with antisemitic violence.
The French government maintained that recognition of Palestinian statehood and opposition to antisemitism were compatible policies. Kushner and Netanyahu challenged aspects of that position, while Paris rejected their causal claims.
Later events clarified one major element of the original dispute: France did proceed with Palestinian recognition in September 2025. The diplomatic confrontation of August 2025 therefore remains an example of how disagreements over Gaza, Palestinian statehood, antisemitism and diplomatic conduct became intertwined even among governments with longstanding security and political relationships.
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