Flares, Smoke Bombs and Clashes Disrupt Israeli Philharmonic Concert in Paris

What happened: Protesters interrupted a performance by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at Paris’s Philharmonie three times on Thursday, setting off flares and two smoke bombs and sparking physical confrontations inside the concert hall. Video circulating on social media shows an activist who ignited a red flare being chased and assaulted before other concertgoers intervened.

Venue statement and police response

The Philharmonie said in a statement that the troublemakers were removed, the concert resumed and ultimately ended peacefully. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said pro-Palestinian demonstrators were responsible and authorities detained four people in connection with the incident.

Reactions and context

Robert Ejnes, executive director of France’s Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF), accused the protesters of attempting to "turn a cultural event into a political event." By contrast, Manon Aubry of the far-left party France Unbowed refused to condemn the disruption, blaming Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and saying on CNews: "The best way to prevent this type of incident from happening again is for the Israeli government to stop massacring an entire people."

France’s entertainment union CGT Spectacle had criticized the Philharmonie’s decision to go ahead with the concert, calling it "an attempt at normalization by the State of Israel" and accusing Israel of committing genocide — language the state rejects — while also pointing to International Criminal Court indictments against some Israeli leaders.

More than 1,500 artists signed an October open letter urging the Philharmonie’s director to cancel the performance.

Venue’s position and precedents

The Philharmonie defended its stance, saying it "has welcomed and will continue to welcome both Israeli and Palestinian artists," and that "artists cannot be held responsible for the actions of their governments simply by association." The venue has previously taken political positions: in April 2022 it canceled performances by Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under conductor Valery Gergiev, citing solidarity with Ukraine.

Wider cultural fallout

Although the Israeli Philharmonic is not an official government institution, it is often seen as a prominent cultural ambassador for Israel; it performed in Abu Dhabi in 2022 to mark the Abraham Accords. The Paris incident comes amid mounting tensions in the international music world over Israel’s war in Gaza. In September, conductor Ilan Volkov publicly denounced Israel’s actions from the stage in London, and organizers in Ghent canceled a planned concert by Israeli conductor Lahav Shani, who led Thursday’s program in Paris. Belgium’s prime minister criticized that cancellation.

"We have noticed that there is a large-scale boycott of artists, not only Israeli but also Jewish," CRIF Executive Director Robert Ejnes told CNN, urging French authorities to take note.

The Philharmonie says Thursday’s disruptions were the first of their kind at the venue. While the performance resumed and concluded, the episode underscores how international conflicts are increasingly spilling into cultural spaces and forcing institutions, artists and audiences to confront fraught political questions.