U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner Accuses France Of Failing Jewish Community, Calls For Education And Interfaith Action

In a pointed interview with TIME France in late November, U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner said he wrote a public letter to President Emmanuel Macron because many French Jews "live in fear" and feel abandoned by their government. The letter, published in The Wall Street Journal, prompted a sharp rebuttal from Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said Kushner had overstepped the role of a diplomat.

Why He Wrote The Letter

Kushner told interviewer Vivienne Walt that conversations with Jewish communities across France convinced him the problem was urgent. "People say, 'I can no longer identify as anything Jewish, because I will be harassed,'" he said, adding that, as the child of Holocaust survivors, the issue felt deeply personal. He defended publishing the letter publicly after receiving positive responses from several U.S. senators, members of Congress and business leaders.

Response In Paris

French officials reacted angrily. Kushner said he expected the backlash and insisted he had "told the truth." He criticized Macron for not attending an anti-antisemitism demonstration in 2023 and said that, while he did not claim to be the "best diplomat," he sought to represent the United States honestly and with honor.

Statistics And Education

The ambassador defended a statistic cited in his letter — a 2023 Claims Conference poll reporting that 46% of 18-to-29-year-olds in France said they had never heard of the Holocaust — while acknowledging other surveys show lower figures (for example, an Ifop poll in 2018 found 21% of 18-to-24-year-olds reporting the same). Kushner noted that the Holocaust is part of the French school curriculum and suggested absenteeism or poor teaching might explain discrepancies, saying: "If you teach about World War II, how can you not teach about what happened to 6 million Jews?" He said meeting France's education minister about curriculum and civic instruction was a top priority.

Law Enforcement And Government Action

Kushner argued that, beyond official condemnations, there has been insufficient law-enforcement follow-through on antisemitic incidents. "They come out with great statements... But you don't read about a lot of arrests. You don't read a lot of people that are punished severely," he said, urging firmer action from French authorities.

Demographics, Radicalization And Interfaith Work

Discussing demographic trends, Kushner said he believed France's Jewish community has declined — citing a figure that, he said, dropped from roughly 600,000 more than a decade ago to about 440,000 today — and that the Muslim population has grown. He acknowledged there is no official census for religious affiliation and even quipped that he had consulted ChatGPT as a source. Kushner emphasized that most Muslims are peaceful and condemned "radicalized" elements on both sides. He said he has met with the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris to explore joint initiatives between Muslim and Jewish communities.

U.S. — France Contrast And Campus Policy

Kushner dismissed accusations of U.S. hypocrisy — critics pointed to extremist rhetoric and leaked messages from American political groups — arguing the U.S. federal government has taken concrete steps to curb campus antisemitism by using funding leverage. He offered a personal anecdote about his grandson, saying that White House pressure had led universities to act and that those actions influenced his family's view about attending certain schools.

On Protests And Rhetoric

When asked about repeated demonstrations in Paris against the war in Gaza, Kushner said some slogans cross the line into antisemitism. "When you say 'from the river to the sea,' or if you call for the destruction of Israel, you're saying I hate Jews," he said, stressing that calls for Israel's elimination are indistinguishable from hatred of Jews.

Interview Notes: The conversation was edited and condensed for clarity. Kushner, who took up his post last July, framed his interventions as motivated by community testimony and a desire to prompt stronger French responses to antisemitism.