why this gala organized in Paris is controversial

On the eve of the France-Israel match, the “Israel is Forever” gala takes place this Wednesday evening in Paris. Organized by an association very close to the Israeli extreme right, it is denounced by multiple associations.

A somewhat special gala, “Israel is Forever”, is being held in Paris this Wednesday evening. It has not even started and it is already attracting all the political, media and security attention. “The mobilization of French-speaking Zionist forces, in the service of the power and history of Israel”: this is what we can read on the official gala poster. In the background, photos of Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall. And in the foreground, two faces. That of Nili Kupfer-Naouri, president of the Israel is Forever association, and Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Minister of Finance.

The Paris prefecture specifies that it is held in a place “which does not pose a problem of disturbances to public order”. An ultra-secure evening, in the presence of high-ranking Israeli personalities. With one objective: to raise funds and support the Jewish state. The entry ticket is 260 euros and this Wednesday morning, there were still a few dozen places left.

Israel is Forever presents itself as a “French-speaking Zionist mobilization association”. In reality, she is very close to the Israeli extreme right. It was founded in 2015 by Jacques Kupfer, one of the bosses of the World Zionist Organization. He was also president of Betar, the nationalist Jewish youth movement. When he died three years ago, his daughter Nili Kupfer-Naouri took over. And she shares the same ideas as her father.

Last February, she released a video on her social networks, which can easily be found on the internet. She is seen at the border of the Jewish state declaring this: “There is no innocent civilian population in Gaza, so it is immoral to bring humanitarian trucks through.” Nili Kupfer-Naouri thus participated in starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza, by blocking the arrival of international aid.

Far-right Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich in videoconference?

The holding of this gala has provoked widespread mobilization in France for several weeks. A “gala of hatred and shame which must not take place”, explain eight NGOs and unions in a joint press release. Among them: the International Federation for Human Rights, the CGT, the France Palestine Solidarité association.

Around fifteen other associations, notably the collective of left-wing Jews and SOS Racisme, denounce the arrival of Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance, presented as a “fascist, a racist and a threat to democracy in Israel”.

Head of the Religious Zionist Party, the far right in Israel, he became known for extremist comments. He is a claimed Jewish supremacist, with a very specific agenda: annex all the occupied territories and offer the Arabs two options: resident status without the right to vote if they renounce a Palestinian state or expulsion.

Bezalel Smotrich has already come to France at the invitation of the Israel is Forever association. It was in March 2023. And on this occasion, he made people talk about him with this sentence: “The Palestinian people do not exist”.

According to his spokesperson, no trip to Paris is planned. Moreover, the French authorities were not notified. No official visit, therefore. Except that he is on the gala poster and the guests are convinced that they will be dining with the star of the evening. Already when he came in March 2023, he had cultivated mystery until the last minute. He had finally moved well. This year, he could choose to speak instead by videoconference. And it would be a disappointment for the International Federation for Human Rights, which was preparing to take advantage of his presence in France to file a complaint against him for “complicity in torture”.

On the sidelines of this evening, a demonstration by Betar, a nationalist Jewish youth movement, is also planned for this Wednesday in Paris, on the eve of the France-Israel match scheduled for this Thursday evening at the Stade de France for which 4,000 police officers are mobilized. A meeting under high tension, less than a week after anti-Semitic violence on the sidelines of a match in Amsterdam.