PARIS, France — The Israeli ambassador to France has drawn a stark comparison between the rhetoric of far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and that of Adolf Hitler, highlighting concerns about an alarming rise in antisemitism. This growing hostility has led some French Jews to conceal their identities as they navigate daily life.
In 2025, France witnessed a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents, tallying 1,320 cases compared to 436 incidents in 2022. Despite this surge, a prominent figure within the Jewish community insisted to Fox News Digital that they remain steadfast and refuse to back down, even as these attacks persist.
Joshua Zarka, Israel’s Ambassador to France, pointed out that the country hosts Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish populations. This demographic makeup, according to Zarka, contributes significantly to the frequency of antisemitic events occurring throughout France.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the French left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), recently addressed supporters during a campaign event in Marseille on March 7, 2026. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
Ambassador Zarka expressed that the elevated number of antisemitic incidents is not due to a lack of effort from the French government. Instead, he attributed the rise to external influences from nations like Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Qatar, which are fostering an environment where antisemitism can flourish.
While he says those state actors are fueling the fire of Jew-hatred from the outside, certain French political actors exploit antisemitism for the purpose of getting more votes. According to Zarka, foremost among them is the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI).
“The way [LFI leader] Jean-Luc Mélenchon speaks in front of a crowd reminds me of Hitler. The way he uses the idea of uniting against one enemy by speaking of Israel is similar to the way Hitler used to speak about the Jews,” Zarka said.
In February, the Human Rights League criticized Mélenchon after he mocked the pronunciation of Jewish names, including that of MEP Raphaël Glucksmann.
Palestinian protestors wave flags with some seemingly making Nazi-like salutes during a soccer game between Israel and Paraguay during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Parc des Princes in Paris July 27, 2024. (Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images)
Mélenchon previously wrote on his blog that “antisemitism remains residual in France,” remarks critics said downplayed a surge in Jew-hatred after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Fox News Digital repeatedly contacted Mélenchon’s media advisor for comment but did not receive a response.
Zarka added that, over the past three years, there has been a shift in the Jewish community’s perception of what was once considered the extreme right, with many no longer viewing the National Rally, formerly led by Marine Le Pen, as such.
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Protesters hold signs that say “raped at 12 because Jewish” during a demonstration called by associations, including SOS Racisme and the Women’s Foundation to denounce antisemitism, in Paris on June 20, 2024, after the alleged antisemetic gang rape of a 12-year-old girl in Paris’ suburb of Courbevoie. (Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP via Getty Images)
“Let’s not forget that [National Rally President] Jordan Bardella went to Israel and, at Yad Vashem, made a formal commitment to fight antisemitism, be it from the right or the left, and that is significant. … That is sinking into the mind of the Jewish community,” Zarka said.
Recent incidents include the partial cutting down on Jan. 12 in Lyon of a tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was abducted and murdered in a 2006 antisemitic attack.
On Feb. 9, a young boy wearing a kippah was assaulted by a group of five individuals, one of whom allegedly held a knife to his throat. Ten days later, acid was sprayed in two dining rooms of a kosher restaurant in Paris’s 17th arrondissement.
On April 15, racist and antisemitic graffiti targeted three high schools in the Montpellier metropolitan area.
El Al’s offices in Paris were vandalized, showing graffiti on the building’s exterior. (Noemie Olive/Reuters)
In March, two brothers were arrested for with what authorities described as a “deadly and antisemitic” plot after police discovered a semi-automatic weapon, a bottle of hydrochloric acid and an Islamic State flag in their vehicle.
Rabbi Elie Lemmel was targeted in two antisemitic attacks, including last June in Deauville, where he was punched in the stomach. Days later, he was attacked again in Neuilly-sur-Seine while sitting at a café terrace, when a Palestinian from Gaza struck him with a chair.
Lemmel told Fox News Digital he had almost never faced aggression before but believes the post-Oct. 7 conflict has intensified tensions. He said he understands those who choose to be more discreet and would never judge them.
“You have to be vigilant,” he said. “Unfortunately, some people see a kippah, and it bothers them. Those who want to do harm will always find reasons.
“If we start hiding, it is the beginning of the end,” he added. “I have always worn a kippah, and that is why I continue to wear it.”
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Yonathan Arfi, president of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), said some Jewish families now forgo displaying mezuzahs or use different names on mobile apps to avoid being identified.
“On the one hand, there is a rise in antisemitism that leads to precautionary behavior,” Arfi told Fox News Digital. “On the other hand, Jewish life remains more vibrant than ever, with synagogues full and more kosher restaurants than ever before.
“We must not offer antisemitic terrorists and those driven by hatred our fear and withdrawal as a trophy,” said Arfi. “Wherever possible, Jewish life must continue openly and proudly.”
French riot police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators during a pro-Palestinian rally at Republique Square in Paris on Oct. 12, 2023. (Ibrahim Ezzat/Anadolu)
Immigration to Israel, he said, should nevertheless be seen as a warning sign that some Jews no longer see a future in France.
Historically, French immigration to Israel averaged between 1,500 and 2,000 people annually after the Six-Day War. The figure peaked at around 8,000 annually between 2012 and 2015, fell to about 1,000 in 2023, then rose again to more than 2,000 in 2024 and 3,500 in 2025. The Jewish Agency for Israel estimates roughly 4,000 immigrants from France in 2026.
The Israeli ambassador to Paris noted that French authorities take combating antisemitism seriously, and therefore the country remains “a relatively safe place,” while urging Israelis to exercise caution when traveling to other European countries such as Spain, Belgium and even the Netherlands, “where antisemitism flourishes.”
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 23, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
In February, President Emmanuel Macron denounced the “antisemitic hydra” that had crept into “every crack” of French society during a ceremony commemorating Ilan Halimi, a Jewish man kidnapped and tortured to death by the Gang of Barbarians in 2006.
“In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the antisemitic hydra has kept advancing,” Macron said, according to Le Monde.
“Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crevice, too often accompanied by that same pact of cowardice: to keep silent, to refuse to see.”
Macron also condemned the “Islamist antisemitism” behind the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre and “far-left antisemitism,” which he said “rivals that of the far right.”
He added that antisemitism increasingly “uses the mask of anti-Zionism to advance quietly.”
Marine Le Pen and deputies Sébastien Chenu and Jordan Bardella participate in a march against antisemitism from the Esplanade des Invalides to the Senate in Paris on Nov. 12, 2023. (Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images)
Even so, bilateral ties with Israel are not without friction, with Zarka disclosing that the government of Macron refused to allow U.S. military overflights carrying weapons to Israel during the war against Iran.
“The French made the decision not to provide us with an aerial bridge for American weapon shipments to fly over during the war against Iran,” he said.
It was the second time France had denied such a request, the first occurring during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the envoy noted.
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