PARIS — Outgoing Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin asked French public prosecutors on Friday to take tougher action against incidents of antisemitism, just days before President Emmanuel Macron is set to anger Israel by recognizing a Palestinian state.
The move also comes a few weeks after the new US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, published an open letter in the Wall Street Journal accusing France of not doing enough to stem antisemitic violence.
In a document seen by Reuters and circulated ahead of the Jewish New Year, which coincides with Macron’s planned recognition of the Palestinian state on September 22, Darmanin asked for “very firm criminal action” against antisemitic acts and speeches.
He also called for “general aggravating circumstances” to be taken into account in all cases where possible, which in French law means allowing for the maximum prison sentence to be imposed.
Darmanin asked prosecutors to open “systematic investigations” when they are notified by an elected official or civil servant of an antisemitic act or statement.
Macron has emerged as one of the more forceful critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza launched after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.
Israel bitterly opposes the planned move, saying it is a reward for Hamas.
The president has also publicly criticized antisemitism as antithetical to French values and increased security to protect synagogues and other Jewish centers in response to antisemitic incidents linked to the Gaza conflict.
France has seen a surge in antisemitism since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war.
Last month, a group of 150 young Israeli tourists was refused entry to a leisure park in the south of France. Prosecutors said they had placed the manager of the park under investigation on suspicion of discrimination based on ethnic origin or nationality.
In another incident that month, an olive tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man tortured to death in 2006, was felled outside Paris, stirring outrage in France and prompting condemnation from its politicians.
Between January and June 2025, 646 antisemitic acts were recorded in France, compared to 891 acts in the same period last year, according to figures released by the interior ministry. However, the 2025 figure is more than double the 304 acts recorded between January and June 2023.
France is home to Western Europe’s largest Jewish population at around half a million people, as well as a significant Muslim community.