EJC President Dr Moshe Kantor attended the CRIF annual dinner at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris as guest of honour, alongside Executive Vice-President Raya Kalenova and Director of European Affairs Ariella Woitchik.
The event brought together French and international Jewish leaders, as well as politicians, ambassadors, artists, writers, religious figures, and media personalities.
The President of CRIF, Yonathan Arfi, delivered an emotional and powerful appeal to the French authorities and society amid the alarming rise of antisemitism and the growing fuel and normalisation of hatred in the country, which threatens not only the safety of Jewish communities but also undermines the very values of tolerance, equality, and unity that France has long upheld.
“Should we ask our children to lower their voices when they speak about Jews or Israel on the metro? Or should we resign ourselves to removing the mezuzah from our doors, to hiding our Star of David? These are the dilemmas faced by Jewish families in our country. I refuse to accept that, in France, Jews should have to choose between their affinities and their peace of mind, between their identity and their safety,” said Arfi.
Addressing the deep-rooted and evolving nature of antisemitism, he highlighted how harmful rhetoric has shifted over time but continues to target Jewish communities with vicious accusations: “In our time, even semantics has become a front line. Forty years ago, we were called ‘dirty Jews’, twenty years ago ‘dirty Zionists’, and today ‘genocidal murderers’. I say this to you solemnly: the accusation of genocide is also a secularised reactivation of the age-old charge of a deicidal people.”
Challenging the narrative that only radical ideologies can capture popular support in France, he declared: “I am convinced that those who believe in a strong, secular, and universalist Republic form the most powerful collective in the country. Much to the dismay of the populists — in the face of antisemitism and the excesses of the far left, in the face of the calm, patient hunger of the far right — the Republic has not had its final say.”
French Prime Minister François Bayrou was the main speaker of the evening, expressing solidarity with the Jewish community on behalf of the French Republic. He condemned Hamas and the hostage-taking that began on 7 October, denouncing the rise of antisemitism in the country and outlining the government’s measures to combat it.
“The violence that began on 7 October has also very quickly affected French Jews on our own soil. In 2024, 1,570 antisemitic acts were recorded — nearly four times more than in 2022, and almost twenty times more than in the mid-1990s. Since the start of 2025, there have already been 325 such acts, of which 10% were physical assaults. Two-thirds of all anti-religious incidents target our Jewish compatriots. So how can anyone dare to speak of a residual phenomenon when, on the contrary, its growth has been exponential?” Bayrou stated.
Addressing the alarming consequences of rising antisemitism on everyday life, he stressed the urgent need to protect both the Jewish community’s safety and the values of the Republic. He said: “We refuse to accept that French Jews should leave their neighbourhoods and the land where they were born. We do not accept that those who choose to stay live in fear. We do not accept that they withdraw their children from public schools. Six out of ten Jewish parents fear for the safety and wellbeing of their children if they remain in the public education system. This, for us, is an undeniable sign of a national failure. It is proof that the school of the Republic — which I have fought for all my life, that we want to be welcoming to all, a place of flourishing for all, a place for creating fraternal bonds — must today be defended and, in a way, rebuilt.”
François Bayrou and Yonathan Arfi presented the Crif-Pierrot Kauffmann 2025 Prize to humorist and comedian Sophia Aram for her commitment in the fight against antisemitism.
During the event, participants paid tribute to former hostage Shoshan Haran, who was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Be’eri and taken to Gaza, and to Rabbi Elie Lemmel, who was the victim of violent antisemitic assaults twice in one week—in Paris and Deauville—suffering serious physical harm.
