A more than tense international context, a football match under close surveillance and above all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which drags on… The recipe is explosive. And yet, a gala, presented as “ the mobilization of French-speaking Zionist forces in the service of the power and history of Israel », is to be held on Wednesday November 13 in Paris.
Coincidentally with the calendar, this event will take place the day before the France-Israel meeting, a week after the violence perpetrated against Israeli supporters in Amsterdam, which caused turmoil in the international community. The gala, at €260 per place, the location of which has not yet been disclosed, is organized by the “Israel is forever” association.
At the head of this organization: Nili Kupfer-Naouri, Franco-Israeli lawyer and daughter of radical Zionist activist Jacques Kupfer. This has already been accused by several La France insoumise deputies of relaying the propaganda of the Israeli extreme right in France, or of having participated in operations to block humanitarian aid to Gaza. In the media, this close friend of extremist Israeli settlers hit the headlines by declaring after the October 7 attacks that he “ there was no innocent civilian population in Gaza ».
Betar, a “nationalist Jewish Zionist youth movement »
This event must be held on the sidelines of a gathering organized by Betar and the MEJF (French Jewish Student Movement). Close to Likud, the Israeli political party to which Benjamin Netanyahu belongs, Betar was created in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky. The name of the movement is a tribute in Hebrew to the activist Joseph Trumpledor, who notably organized the immigration of Jews to what would later become the State of Israel in the 20th century.
Ce « Jewish nationalist Zionist youth movement » is favorable « to the creation of a great State of Israel », as the historian Frédéric Encel explains in Parisian. In the 1990s, Betar became extremely violent, and in 2016 called on Twitter for “ murder of Arabs » after the attack in Tel Aviv, perpetrated by two Palestinians.
A controversial guest
In recent days, Betar and the MEJF had jointly announced the arrival at this gala of Bezalel Smotrich, an openly supremacist Israeli finance minister and supporter of the occupation of the West Bank.
Faced with the outcry caused by the announcement of the presence of this openly “fascist” and “homophobic” politician among associations, unions and left-wing parties, the president of Betar Yigal Brand said: “ We are proud Zionists and have no apologies ».
Finally, Bezalel Smotrich's spokesperson on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a trip on his part to Paris. Appearing on the gala poster, it is however not excluded that the minister will participate virtually.
Despite the controversies, the Paris police chief agreed to maintain the gala, a decision confirmed by the administrative justice system, seized by several pro-Palestinian associations. Laurent Nuñez clarified on Sunday on BFMTV that this gala would bring together “ barely a few hundred people » et « is held every year “, adding that he would ensure that he ” is held in a place which does not pose a problem in terms of disturbances to public order ».
