U.S. envoy Kushner says France has lost its way amid rising antisemitism in TIME interview

An interview with TIME France published this week features U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner criticizing France for how it handles rising antisemitism, saying the country has “lost its way.” Kushner bases his assessment on conversations with French Jewish communities and a letter he sent to President Emmanuel Macron last July, in which he warned that antisemitism was intensifying and that Jews in France felt abandoned by government institutions.

He told TIME that the letter, later published in The Wall Street Journal, drew a sharp response from Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who argued that a diplomat should not wade into national debates. Kushner said the reaction showed “they couldn’t handle the truth,” and he maintained that the message was an honest accounting of what Jewish communities were expressing to him. “I learned by speaking to different Jewish communities that the majority of Jews in France live in fear and they feel totally abandoned by their government,” he said. “People say, ‘I can no longer identify as anything Jewish, because I will be harassed.’”

Kushner emphasized that antisemitism has long scarred French life and repeated that his critique was not intended as a partisan attack but as a call for accountability. He cited a perception that the government issues statements condemning antisemitism while concrete actions and enforcement lag behind. He asserted that in France, “the administration taps you on the hand and lets you go your way,” contrasting that with the United States where he says the approach to antisemitism is much more forceful and consequences are swift when abuses occur. “In America we have a President that kicks you hard in the backside,” Kushner said, describing the difference in approach to an issue he frames as a national security and moral priority.

Kushner also connected the mood on French campuses to broader cultural and political dynamics. He described the impact of what he called a growing radicalized segment of some Muslim communities and a shrinking Jewish population, arguing that fear and self-censorship affect daily life for French Jews. He said that in his view, “the government is not necessarily at fault here,” but that the overall environment has become less welcoming for Jewish people. He pointed to ongoing demonstrations in support of Palestinians and the Gaza cause as a continuous backdrop to the climate in which antisemitic incidents can emerge or go unpunished.

The ambassador drew attention to educational memory as a core issue, noting that he has sought meetings with education officials to discuss curriculum and pedagogy. In the interview, he referenced a statistic he attributed to a 2023 polling survey by the Claims Conference suggesting that roughly half of French youths in secondary education had never heard of the Holocaust, a figure other studies have questioned or placed in a different context. Kushner acknowledged that Holocaust education is part of France’s curriculum and exam system, but he pressed for stronger emphasis and accuracy in teaching, saying, “What are we teaching the next generation if they don’t even know what happened to 6 million Jews?” He said he planned to press Education Minister Édouard Geffray, who had just been appointed shortly before the interview, on the issue.

Beyond education, Kushner described his meetings with religious and community leaders, including the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, with whom he discussed practical cooperation between Jewish and Muslim communities. He stressed that he does not paint all Muslims with the same brush and acknowledged that radicalized individuals exist on both sides of the faith divide. He argued that long-standing coexistence between Jews and Muslims in parts of Europe is possible and should be reinforced, while condemning acts of violence such as the burning of a mosque reported in recent days. He warned that the open borders of Europe, in his view, can magnify the influence of radicalized voices—yet he insisted the problem lies with those who distort or inflame the conflict, not with peaceful adherents of either faith.

Kushner framed the question of antisemitism in the context of ongoing, high-profile protests over Gaza. He noted that for two years in Paris there have been demonstrations tied to the conflict, and he asked whether certain slogans that critics describe as anti-Israel or anti-Jewish sentiment amount to antisemitism. He pointed to phrases sometimes used in demonstrations—such as calls referencing “from the river to the sea”—as indicators of a rhetoric that crosses lines for him, though he said he did not attribute the labels to all protesters. The cadence of protests, he argued, has shaped the lived experience of Jewish residents and influenced how openly they can express their identity in public.

The interview reflects a broader debate over antisemitism in Europe and the degree of government responsibility in protecting minority communities. Kushner’s remarks underscore U.S. expectations about how allied governments should respond to discrimination and violence, as well as how ambassadors stationed abroad navigate the tensions between diplomacy and outspoken advocacy on matters of civil rights. Macron’s government has faced longstanding scrutiny over antisemitism in France, including fatal attacks and persistent incidents in schools, religious centers, and public spaces. Critics say more robust enforcement, faster investigations, and stronger political leadership are needed to reassure Jewish communities and demonstrate that Europe’s second-largest Jewish population can thrive in a modern democracy.

The TIME France interview, which has sparked editorial responses in France and beyond, also highlighted how personal history informs policy perspectives. Kushner, who is the son of Holocaust survivors, described the issue as a deeply personal one, and he framed his efforts as a moral obligation to safeguard Jewish life and safety in a country with a long history of Jewish life and culture. His remarks come at a time of renewed attention to how governments address antisemitism, including debates over education, law enforcement, and social cohesion in an era of transnational political movements and online radicalization. As the interview circulated, observers noted the tension between Kushner’s insistence on candor and calls from European officials for more measured, diplomatic engagement in a country grappling with a rising tide of antisemitic incidents and a changing demographic landscape.