Hamas attack on Israel: Borne deplores “a form of anti-Semitism” from LFI, Mélenchon responds

On Saturday morning, Israel was hit by a salvo of terrorist attacks on its territory orchestrated by Hamas, and still ongoing today. In a few hours, fear gripped the French political class, which united in support of the battered country.

All with the notable exception of La France insoumise (LFI), where we refuse to firmly condemn the terrorist assault perpetrated by the Hamas movement. From Bordeaux (Gironde) where the return of the presidential camp is taking place this weekend, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on Sunday crushed the “revolting ambiguities” of part of the left, while it has been torn apart since the outbreak of the war. “We cannot put Hamas and Israel back to back,” she assured on the BFM set, highlighting a form of “complacency” on the part of LFI towards the terrorist organization. For the head of government, the “anti-Zionism” of LFI is “sometimes also a way of masking a form of anti-Semitism”.

Without delay, Jean-Luc Mélenchon responded on Twitter. “Madame Borne is taking advantage of the war in the Middle East to wage her war against LFI,” he explained on X – formerly Twitter. I expressed the constant position of our country since De Gaulle. The Prime Minister's support for a foreign point of view is proven if you take the trouble to read me (...) Where is the expression "displaced" in my words? Approval of the ongoing massacre dishonors Madame Borne. France doesn’t talk like that!”

In a statement published on social networks on Saturday, the rebellious movement declared: “The armed offensive by Palestinian forces led by Hamas comes in a context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The rebel in chief, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, subsequently explained on -even". A line also taken up by LFI deputy Louis Boyard: “For too long has France turned a blind eye to colonization and abuses in Palestine. For too long, France has kept the violence of the Israeli state and that of Palestinian armed groups back to back.”

Enough to provoke ire on the socialist benches, where certain elected officials have even stepped up to crush the position of their rebellious allies. “Jews are always responsible for what happens to them. It’s a constant in anti-Semitic discourse,” responded socialist senator Laurence Rossignol to Louis Boyard’s comments. “To the useful idiots of Hamas terrorists who exonerate them by putting things into perspective in the name of the political impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the continuation of colonization, Netanyahu... you disgust me. That we find them on the left is unbearable,” said socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj.