'Some French Jews will accept far-right antisemitism in parliament because they believe Le Pen will protect them'

07/03/24 • 24 min

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While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to keep up the fighting in Gaza, thousands of Israelis joined together at a conference on Monday to deliver a message to his government and the world: It's time to reach a deal, to stop the war, to make peace.

One of the many groups behind the peace conference was Women Wage Peace, whose co-founder Yael Admi told Haaretz reporter and special host of Haaretz Podcast Linda Dayan that within the peace camp, "We have to unite our voices, and that's what we did."

Discussing how the event came about, how to keep the momentum and the role of women in ending the conflict, Admi said, "We have one common target: To bring back the hostages, to make this terrible war end and to begin a process of diplomatic agreements to give a horizon of solutions for these awful days."

Dayan also interviewed activists Ibrahim Abu Ahmad and Josh Drill, bereaved mother Elana Kaminka and Standing Together co-director Alon-Lee Green, who said "After nine months of war... It's not enough to point out what we hate," adding, "we must put forward a vision of which kind of reality we are demanding."

As Israelis dream of a better future, in Europe, France is gearing up for a far-right government after the National Rally party emerged victorious in the first round of voting on Sunday. Haaretz correspondent and France 24 journalist Shirli Sitbon joined the podcast to explain where France and its Jewish citizens, who have become a political football, go from here.

The Jewish community "is very divided" on the results, she said. "At the same time, they feel that [it's] a strong party that will be tough on anyone who attacks Jews – that's what the National Rally promises, to defend Jews – but at the same time, a lot of Jews know very well what this party is made of, its history, its program, and they see it as extremely dangerous."

Still, some French Jews are willing to live with antisemitism in parliament "if it means, they believe, more security on a daily basis," she said.

Until now, she added, French Jews have never had official contact with the far right beyond condemning them. But suddenly, with a high likelihood of a far-right total majority, "some Jewish officials are already officially starting to talk to the National Rally, because they want to know what's going to happen, to see what's next."

But, "with Jews in a situation we've never known before," she said, "we don't really know what's going to happen tomorrow when they're in power."

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Still, some French Jews are willing to live with antisemitism in parliament "if it means, they believe, more security on a daily basis," she said.

But, "with Jews in a situation we've never known before," she said, "we don't really know what's going to happen tomorrow when they're in power."

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Previous Episode

'A war in Lebanon won't be a duel with Hezbollah, Israel will face Iran's entire axis of resistance'

The key to avoiding full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah is ending the conflict in southern Israel with Hamas, asserts Yoram Schweitzer, an expert on the Palestinian and Lebanese terror groups, on the Haaretz Podcast.

Schweitzer tells host Allison Kaplan Sommer that it is in Israel's power to "extricate itself" from what is already an ongoing two-front war. He blames the "illusion of a total victory" promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza for dragging on the war for months, what he calls a "misguided policy" that has also led to the war of attrition between Lebanon and Israel.

"I think it's in our hands to determine the future in the north" when it comes to preventing a slide into a larger war, Schweitzer says. "I think Israel has a great and significant role to play in calming down the situation."

A former strategist in negotiating for Israeli soldiers missing in action, Schweitzer believes that a deal must be made with Hamas exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners and ending the war. Afterward, Israel should work to "redesign our preparedness and our military readiness both in the south and in the north and prepare for a potential future war with Hezbollah, if needed" – unless a comprehensive regional political settlement can be reached.

Schweitzer says he believes internal political pressure in Lebanon and the potential devastation of a full-scale conflict means that Hezbollah is "under pressure" to accept a cease-fire that would avoid a conflagration in which Iran would be sure to join, thus sparking regional war.

While he believes Hezbollah and Iran are not interested in the all-out war that has panicked Israelis into buying generators and stocking up on bottled water, "it's in their interest to stick to their policy and to the war of attrition. I think that we need to understand that Israel is the one who determines the scale and the height of the flames of the war."

Acknowledging that Hezbollah's Iran-backed forces initiated the current conflict and is "not an innocent bystander," he notes that "Hezbollah is mostly reactive to Israeli maneuvers and attacks" and so Israel determines "where the trend in Lebanon is going."

Netanyahu's seemingly concerted efforts to alienate the Biden White House weakens Israel's position vis-a-vis both Hamas and Hezbollah, Schweitzer says, calling it a "very dangerous" and "stupid, foolish and irresponsible" policy.

"It is definitely a strategic mistake by our prime minister to attack what may be one of the most friendly administrations that Israel has enjoyed throughout the years. I don't want to use foul language, but it's definitely an unrealistic and irresponsible policy to attack Israel's most significant ally."

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Next Episode

Amos Harel: 'Netanyahu is using the Trump shooting to vilify Israel's protest movement'

If indeed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed when IDF forces targeted him on Saturday, "it would be a very important achievement for Israel but it's not the end of the world for Hamas or the end of the war" according to Haaretz senior security analyst Amos Harel, speaking to host Allison Kaplan Sommer on this week's Haaretz Podcast about the events that rocked the past weekend - the targeting of Deif and the attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump.

Although many Israeli security officials believe Deif was eliminated in the air assault in Gaza's Khan Yunis, Harel was cautious in his assessment, given that the head of Hamas's military wing has escaped multiple attempts on his life in the past.

As one of the "two major planners involved every inch of the way" when it came to the horrific massacres of October 7, Harel said it was "very important from an Israeli perspective to settle the score."

Also on the podcast, Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels discusses the effects of the Trump assassination attempt on the Republican National Convention, which is set to showcase campus antisemitism as one of it's "top tier issues."

Samuels, speaking from Milwaukee where he is covering the convention says the reason, is "because it hits at so many issues that Republicans in America these days really care about - it touches on immigration, foreign policy, and national security. So it makes sense that Republicans will really try to seize upon this as a key theme over the next few days" and point to it as a negative development that happened on Joe Biden's watch.

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