March against anti-Semitism: “We cannot confuse Marine Le Pen with her father,” explains Pierre Moscovici

Emmanuel Macron kept the suspense of his participation on Sunday in the great march against anti-Semitism in Paris until the last moment. The head of state ultimately preferred to send a letter to the French, in which he denounced “the unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism”. “In this context of divisions, of imperfect national unity, I understand that he wanted to be above the fray,” greeted Pierre Moscovici, guest on Sunday of the “Grand Jury-RTL-Le Figaro-M6”. The first president of the Court of Auditors, who published his memoirs, Our Best Years (Ed. Gallimard), would nevertheless have liked the gathering to take place in a different climate, with “totally present national unity”.

Even more so after the resurgence of anti-Semitic acts since the start of the conflict in the Middle East: more than 1,200 incidents, threats or insults have been recorded in the space of a month in France. “There is anti-Semitism in France, the filthy beast is not dead,” lamented Pierre Moscovici, who evokes in his latest work the anti-Semitism of which he may have been a victim. The former socialist minister also warned of the danger of “importing onto our territory” the war between Israel and Hamas. “It is already there (the import of the conflict), but if we allow it to spread and become generalized, we will experience an extremely dangerous situation,” he warned. Placed at the head of the Parisian procession, Pierre Moscovici insisted that he would march “against anti-Semitism” and not “for Israel”.

Also read: How Jean-Luc Mélenchon moved away from the fight against anti-Semitism

However, this is the stated reason for the boycott of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who sees in this gathering the “meeting” of “friends of unconditional support for the massacre” committed, according to him, by the Hebrew state. “LFI has somewhat lost the compass of the fundamentals of the left,” regretted the former European Commissioner. The socialist hierarch also said he was “shocked” by the “deplorable” positions, the “indifference” and the “absence of empathy” of the rebellious leader since the deadly attacks of October 7. The LFI troops notably refused to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization, putting the Israeli government and the Palestinian movement back to back. To the point that Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his family now adopt, according to Pierre Moscovici, “a rhetoric which sometimes flirts with themes found in anti-Semitism”.

As for the presence of the National Rally (RN), relegated to the back of the procession, Pierre Moscovici believes that the party “is no longer exactly what it was”. However, the former PS said he was “not comfortable” demonstrating alongside the Marinists, without however questioning their participation. “We cannot confuse Marine Le Pen with her father. She, personally, is not anti-Semitic. But has the RN purged all elements of anti-Semitism? I don’t believe it,” he asked.