France’s proposed sanctions on Israeli individuals will embolden Israel’s enemies and further isolate French Jews, two French Jewish lawyers told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
France is working with several European countries to step up pressure on Israel by imposing coordinated national sanctions targeting individuals linked to violence in the West Bank. The measures, which would include asset freezes and travel bans, have yet to be finalized.
“We will be able to go further and in the coming days, new sanctions could be taken,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday, adding that he is “extremely concerned about the intensification of illegal colonization in the West Bank and the explosion of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.”
Until now, the European Union has blocked efforts to advance tougher measures against Israel, so several countries have concluded that coordinated national sanctions were the best option for now.
“The prospect of French sanctions, even outside the framework of the European Union, is causing profound incomprehension within a large segment of the French Jewish community,” French Jewish MP and jurist Caroline Yadan told the Post on Monday.
“Beyond the issue of violence committed in the West Bank, which must obviously be condemned and punished when proven, it is the overall coherence of French foreign policy that is being questioned.”
State conditions: Exclusion of Hamas, reform of PA, abandonment of 'pay for slay'
Yadan said many now feel that France is no longer seeking to preserve its historical relationship with Israel, and is instead adopting an increasingly hostile stance.
She cited recent decisions such as the exclusion of Israeli companies from the Eurosatory trade fair, the stated intention to impose unilateral sanctions and the recognition of a Palestinian state, as examples of this increasing sangfroid.
She noted that the conditions for recognizing a Palestinian state included the exclusion of Hamas from any future governance, the reform of the Palestinian Authority, the organization of elections in 2026, the revision of school curricula that incite hatred, and the definitive abandonment of the so-called “pay-for-slay” policy.
Despite the fact that none of these have been met, “no sanctions, no suspension of international funding, and no strengthened oversight mechanisms appear to be under consideration for the Palestinian Authority,” she said.
Yadan told the Post that this “asymmetry” is “all the more striking” when compared to France’s attitude toward other states; “Algeria continues to detain the French journalist Christophe Gleizes without this triggering comparable retaliatory measures.
Turkey, Qatar, and China, for their part, continue to benefit from far more conciliatory diplomatic and economic treatment despite major concerns regarding human rights, support for Islamist movements, and political repression.”
“The problem, therefore, is not the moral imperative toward Israel,” she continued. “The problem lies in the feeling of differential treatment, even a double standard, which is fueling a growing rift between France and a segment of its Jewish citizens, already harassed by the far Left, which has made hatred of Israel its electoral strategy.”
'A massive aliyah is no longer an ideal, it is a necessity,' catastrophe inevitable
Yadan told the Post that many French Jews feel that their concerns are not being adequately addressed, even though Israel remains, for them, much more than a foreign policy issue.
“Instead, Israel is a fundamental element of their identity, their family history, and their security,” Yadan said.
She encouraged France to adopt a “more balanced diplomatic approach” involving firm condemnation of settler violence alongside strong demands on the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah, as well as Iran.”
“This would restore the credibility necessary to play a meaningful role in the region and preserve a strategic relationship with a major democratic ally in the Middle East,” she mused.
French-Israeli lawyer and the founder of the charity Israel Is Forever, Nili Kupfer-Naouri, told the Post that “France is once again choosing the wrong side of history.”
“After standing with Israel when Jews were massacred on October 7, it has systematically turned against Israel every time Israel fought back: recognizing a Palestinian state, condemning Israel’s offensives against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, and now targeting Jews living in the cradle of Jewish civilization.”
Kupfer-Naouri said the new proposed measures will fuel antisemitism in France, embolden Israel’s enemies, and further isolate French Jews.
“French Jews must draw the necessary conclusions.”
“A massive aliyah is no longer just an ideal – it is becoming a necessity. The warning signs are everywhere, and if nothing changes, a catastrophe for the Jewish community in France is no longer a distant possibility but an inevitable outcome,” she concluded.