Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to France
France: its Jewish community, the Dreyfus affair and Herzl, French arms to Israel, the 2024–2025 arms fair exclusions and recognition of Palestine
France is home to around 500,000 Jews, the third-largest Jewish community in the world after "Israel" and the United States, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).[1] The Dreyfus affair in France led Theodor Herzl to found the Zionist movement.[1] France supplied "Israel" with large quantities of combat aircraft, tanks and missiles in the 1950s and 1960s.[2] In recent years relations have been strained by the Gaza war. In 2024 the French government excluded Israeli companies from the Eurosatory arms fair,[3] and in 2025 the stands of five Israeli arms companies at the Paris Air Show were walled off.[4] On 22 September 2025 President Emmanuel Macron announced at the United Nations that France recognised the State of Palestine.[5]
Zionist movement
- Main article: Zionist movement France
According to the WJC, "All the major Zionist organizations are active in France and there are several local youth movements".[1] The World Zionist Organization's affiliate is the Fédération des Organisations Sionistes de France.[6] The Jewish National Fund is represented by Keren Kayemeth Leisrael France,[7] and the Keren Hayesod by Keren Hayessod - Appel Unifié pour Israël.[8] The WJC also says that aliyah (emigration to "Israel") has increased in recent years, and links the rise in French Jewish emigration to "Israel" to a series of antisemitic attacks: the murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006, the Toulouse school attack in 2012, and the attack on the HyperCacher kosher supermarket in Paris in 2015.[1]
Jewish community
The WJC's French affiliate is the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), the community's political representative body. It was founded in 1944 and represents more than 70 organisations to the government. Its president, Yonathan Arfi, is also a WJC Vice-President. Religious matters are the responsibility of the Consistoire, under the model set by Napoleon.[1] The WJC says that the French branch of the Rothschild family has been "a major economic and financial force in France since the early 19th century", and that Baron David de Rothschild chairs the WJC's Governing Board.[1] Most French Jews live in and around Paris; there are also sizeable communities in Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice and Strasbourg. Because of immigration from North Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, French Jewry is now about 60% Sephardi.[1]
Chabad
- Main article: Chabad Lubavitch of France
Chabad's organised presence in France dates from 1947, when Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, opened an office in Paris to run the movement's work in Europe and North Africa, and later in "Israel".[9] Its largest French body, the Paris association Jeunesse Loubavitch ou Beth Loubavitch, runs schools and crèches and is recognised as being of public utility, and Chabad's world headquarters lists 200 Chabad institutions in France.[10][11] In 2016 Mendel Azimov, described by the Alliance news site as the principal Lubavitch emissary in Paris, was quoted as saying that the movement had received offers from the Israeli ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs on the security of Jewish communities.[12] In November 2023 Beth Habad 77, in Seine-et-Marne, made its 19th "mission solidarité Israël": the group visited four army bases near Gaza, held a barbecue for 500 soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and handed out tefillin.[13]
History
The WJC says that France was the first country in Europe to emancipate its Jews, after the French Revolution. The Dreyfus affair began in 1894, when Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer, was convicted of spying for Germany on what the WJC calls "trumped-up charges". According to the WJC, Dreyfus's public shaming led Theodor Herzl to decide that assimilation was an inadequate solution to antisemitism and "to establish the Zionist movement". During the Second World War more than 13,000 people, including 4,000 children, were arrested in the Vel d'Hiv round-up of July 1942, and 67,400 people were deported from the Drancy camp to the death camps. In 1995 President Jacques Chirac acknowledged the French state's complicity in the deportations.[1]
Israeli state and commercial ties
Diplomacy
The Israeli foreign ministry's 2011 list of missions records relations with France as recognised in January 1949, with "Israel" represented by an embassy in Paris and a consulate-general in Marseille.[14] The WJC says that the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1949.[1]
Recognition of Palestine
On 22 September 2025 Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman co-chaired a UN conference on the two-state solution. There Macron announced that France recognised the State of Palestine. He said: "The recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people does not subtract in any way from the rights of the Israeli people."[5] According to the UN's record of the meeting, he said that France and its European partners would link their level of cooperation with "Israel" to the steps it took to end the war and negotiate peace.[15]
ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024. Prime Minister Michel Barnier said that France would "rigorously apply its obligations". On 27 November, however, the foreign ministry said that immunities for states not party to the court "apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other ministers in question, and must be taken into consideration should the ICC ask us to arrest them and hand them over".[16] The Guardian noted that the statement came soon after Netanyahu's cabinet agreed to a French-backed ceasefire in Lebanon. It contrasted this with France's attitude to the ICC warrant against Vladimir Putin, also the leader of a non-member state.[17]
Arms fair exclusions
In late May 2024 the French government decided to bar Israeli companies from Eurosatory, one of the world's largest arms fairs, in response to the Gaza war. The France-Israel Chamber of Commerce challenged the decision. On 18 June 2024 the president of the Paris Commercial Court ruled that the exclusion was discriminatory. In the previous week a different court had ruled that the organiser, Coges, must also ban Israeli officials and intermediaries. In response to the original ban, Jerusalem's deputy mayor Ariel King asked the city's sanitation services to stop collecting rubbish from the French consulate.[3] At the Paris Air Show in June 2025 the organisers blocked the stands of five Israeli companies with black walls: Elbit Systems, Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries, UVision and Aeronautics. The French foreign ministry said: "We do not export to Israel weapons that could be used in Gaza, and we cannot accept that such weapons be promoted on French soil." Israel's Ministry of Defence accused France of antisemitic motives and of trying to give French arms companies an advantage. A French court dismissed the Israeli companies' petition, and a Rafael representative put the company's losses at "tens of millions of euros".[4]
Trade
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reports that "Israel" imported goods worth $2,581.5 million from France in 2025 (2024: $2,634.1 million) and exported goods worth $1,368.2 million to it (2024: $1,391.0 million).[18]
Arms
According to SIPRI, France supplied large quantities of arms to "Israel" in the 1950s and 1960s. Its deliveries included 75 Ouragan and 61 Mystère-4A fighters (1955–1956), 30 Vautour aircraft (1957–1958) and 77 Mirage-3C fighters (ordered 1961). France also supplied AMX-13 light tanks, Super Frelon helicopters, and Jericho-1 surface-to-surface missiles, which SIPRI describes as "developed for production in Israel; armed with Israeli nuclear warhead".[2] France has also bought Israeli drones: 6 Hunter drones (a $50 million deal, delivered 1997), 3 Eagle drones (delivered 2007), and 4 Heron drones, known in France as Harfang (delivered 2009–2010).[19]
Political interference
UN voting
France voted in favour of the September 2025 General Assembly resolution endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[20]
Ehud Barak emails
The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[21]
- On 23–24 January 2014 Jeffrey Epstein asked Barak, "are you planing on going to paris". Barak replied that he might be there on 29–30 January and asked, "Any interesting ideas/opportunities there?"[22] Epstein answered: "i will be htere the 30th, we should have dinner with rothschild. maybe . sarkozy/?"[23] On 29 January Epstein wrote to a recipient shown as "A. de Rothschild", under the subject "paris dealyed": "I will not be able to travel to paris tonight. I hope your meeting goes ahead without me."[24]
- In February 2016 Barak arranged meetings in Paris for the Israeli emergency-reporting start-up Reporty Homeland Security. Its founder, Amir Elichai, sent him a "Presentation to Paris muni representatives" on 2 February.[25] On 17 February Barak confirmed 7 March to Stéphane Fouks, Executive Chairman of Havas Worldwide, and added, "Remind you that I'll be glad to meet With political leaders as well". On 26 February Fouks's office sent an agenda for the day. It listed meetings with Alain Bauer, president of CNAPS, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls at the Hôtel de Matignon ("To be confirmed"), and with Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.[26] Elichai wrote that he hoped the meeting with Bauer would lead to follow-up meetings, "as it was in Singapore".[27]
Jeffrey Epstein
Documents released by the US Department of Justice in the Jeffrey Epstein files include the following.
- A schedule for Epstein, which refers to the 2013 World Economic Forum at Davos, records him flying from New York to Paris on Air France on 25 January. It also notes: "Barak says he could come for the day if you are in Paris Jan. 27 or 28".[28]
- On 19 March 2014 Nili Priell Barak, wife of Ehud Barak, sent Epstein the couple's travel plans. Epstein replied: "probably paris end of april. , we should try and recoonect to rothschild?"[29]
- Jean-Luc Brunel, a French former model agency boss, was under investigation in France on suspicion of supplying underage girls to Epstein. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in December 2020 and was found hanged in La Santé prison in Paris on 19 February 2022. According to the Guardian, Brunel had founded the US agency MC2 Model Management with funding from Epstein, after being introduced to him by Ghislaine Maxwell. In 2015 Virginia Giuffre accused Brunel of supplying girls to Epstein. Brunel denied any wrongdoing.[30]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 World Jewish Congress, Community in France worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as recipient, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Laura Kayali, Paris court overturns France's arms show ban on Israeli firms Politico Europe, 18 June 2024, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assaf Uni, Israeli cos do brisk business at Paris Air Show despite exclusion Globes, 18 June 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Élysée, 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York: opening day elysee.fr, 22 September 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ World Zionist Organization, Partners – Zionist Federations wzo.org.il, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ KKL-JNF, KKL-JNF Offices Worldwide kkl-jnf.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Keren Hayesod, Our Affiliates: France kh-uia.org.il, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Bureau Lichka Lubavitch", Habad Loubavitch de France, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Jeunesse Loubavitch ou Beth Loubavitch", Assoce.fr (data from the RNA and SIRENE registers), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Europe – Centers", Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters (lubavitch.com), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Claudine Douillet, "Les émissaires Loubavitch en Europe apprendront à sécuriser leurs communautés", Alliance, 24 August 2016.
- ↑ Yossi Amar, "19e mission solidarité Israël du Beth Habad 77", Hassidout, 27 November 2023.
- ↑ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011.
- ↑ United Nations, France Leads Wave of New Recognitions of Palestine at United Nations Summit UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, 22 September 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ RFI, France points to Netanyahu immunity from ICC war crimes warrant RFI, 27 November 2024, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ France says Netanyahu is immune from ICC warrant as Israel is not member of court The Guardian, 27 November 2024, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy).
- ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
- ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Emails between Jeffrey Epstein and Ehud Barak, "Re: Paris", 23–24 January 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!39/1 (221).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, "Re: Paris", 24 January 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!39/1 (215).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Jeffrey Epstein to "A. de Rothschild", "paris dealyed", 29 January 2014, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!39/1 (131).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Amir Elichai to Ehud Barak, "Reporty <> Paris", 2 February 2016, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!2/1 (355).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Emails between Stéphane Fouks's office and Ehud Barak, "Re: Reporty <> Paris", 11–26 February 2016, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!1/1 (204).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Email from Amir Elichai to Ehud Barak, "Re: Reporty <> Paris", 27 February 2016, file
ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!1/1 (189).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 25 October 2026. - ↑ Schedule for Jeffrey Epstein covering late January, sent in January 2013, EFTA00397684, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Emails between Nili Priell Barak and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: travel plans", 19–20 March 2014, EFTA00986337, US Department of Justice, Epstein Files release, Data Set 9, copy at tommycarstensen.com/epstein, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Kim Willsher, Jean-Luc Brunel, held on suspicion of supplying girls to Epstein, found hanged The Guardian, 19 February 2022, accessed 25 October 2026.