The Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, confirmed that he would not prevent the gala organized by the “Israel is Forever” association from taking place this Wednesday, November 13 in Paris. “I will not ban this demonstration. I have no reason to do it,” he said this Sunday, November 10 on the BFMTV set.
Presented as “the mobilization of French-speaking Zionist forces in the service of the power and history of Israel”, this event aroused the indignation of several LFI deputies. For good reason, the announced presence of the very controversial Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, a figure of the religious extreme right in the country.
On October 16, LFI MP Thomas Portes asked Laurent Nuñez to ban this event due to the geopolitical context. “While the Israeli government is carrying out genocide in Gaza, I ask the Paris police chief to ban the “Israel is Forever Gala”, planned in Paris on November 13 in the presence of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who finds it moral to let the inhabitants of Gaza die of hunger,” he denounced in a publication on the social network X.
“The comments of this minister were condemned by France and I finally understand that he will not be present,” the police prefect insisted. But the controversial Israeli minister will attend another rally on the same day.
Indeed, according to a press release published by Betar, a right-wing international Jewish movement, “on November 13 in Paris, Betar and the MEJF (Movement of French Jewish Students) Paris will welcome Bezalel Smotrich” as part of a rally on the sidelines of the “Israel is Forever” gala.
The Paris administrative court also rejected on November 8, 2024 the appeal of the EuroPalestine association to ban the “Israel is Forever” gala. According to the association, the gala aims to “legitimize illegal actions” in the Palestinian territories and to promote financial support for the Israeli army. The courts, however, considered that this gala did not present an imminent danger of particular gravity, and that the right to assembly must be respected in the absence of concrete threats.
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