Yaël Braun-Pivet’s statements in support of Israel sparked a strong reaction from Jean-Luc Mélenchon. A new controversy has sparked.
French politics are being torn apart again against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hamas. This time, it was the trip of the President of the National Assembly to Israel which was the starting point of the controversy. Neither Yaël Braun-Pivet’s visit to Tel Aviv on Sunday October 22, nor his statements were viewed favorably by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. And the thinker of La France insoumise, already criticized by refusing to qualify Hamas as a terrorist group, was once again indignant by denouncing the “massacres” in Gaza and the “unconditional support” of the French government for Israel.
From Tel Aviv, Yaël Braun-Pivet reaffirmed France’s support for Israel after the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas in the Hebrew state on October 7. “France fully supports Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, a democracy which has been attacked in a terrible way. So there must be no mistake, neither in combat nor in words,” declared the president of the lower house.
“What is important is that the civilian populations in Gaza are victims of this conflict as little as possible. But we also know that they often serve as a human shield. They must of course be preserved, but nothing should prevent Israel to defend itself. […] There is an attacker and those attacked” added the MP. A sentence which could give the impression of endorsing the idea that there are collateral victims or of putting into perspective the number of Palestinian civilians victims of Israeli strikes, justified by the “right to defend oneself”.
An anti-Semitic accusation from Jean-Luc Mélenchon?
It was in response to his statements that Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Yaël Braun-Pivet of “camping in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre” in Gaza in a message posted on X (former Twitter). The politician accompanied his message with another tweet showing his support for the pro-Palestinian demonstration organized in Paris on October 22. The person of Jewish origin indicated on France Inter that she saw these statements as an anti-Semitic attack. According to the President of the National Assembly, the word “camp” was not “chosen by chance” by the rebel and refers to concentration camps. In defense, Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced an “absurd policing of words” used as a “pitiful diversion to divert attention from his serious political error”.
But the President of the National Assembly is not the only one to have understood Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s words as anti-Semitic, ministers such as Marc Fesneau and Olivier Klein have pointed out the “tweet of shame” of the rebellious. And beyond the presidential majority, it is also the left which condemned the “abject comments” of the LFI leader, to use the words of socialist Valérie Rabault.
Yaël Braun-Pivet supported by the Prime Minister
The controversy between Yaël Braun-Pivet and Jean-Luc Mélenchon broke out on the eve of a debate organized in the National Assembly on the subject of the war between Israel and Hamas. At the opening of the session, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne did not fail to provide her support to the President of the Assembly by denouncing the “vile attacks” launched against the MP.
As for the French position reaffirmed by Yaël Braun-Pivet, the Prime Minister recalled “her solidarity with the Israeli people” and once again recognized Israel’s right to “defend itself” in accordance with international law and calling for ” spare civilians. MP Yaël Braun-Pivet also clarified her position, saying she grants “unconditional support for Israel” which is not “unconditional support for the government of Israel”. Elisabeth Borne also had a word for the Palestinian people assuring that no life is worth less than another” and emphasizing the difference between the Islamist group considered terrorist and civilians: “The Palestinians are not Hamas, Hamas is not the Palestinian people.”