On the eve of a high-tension match between France and Israel, the “Israel is forever” association is organizing a gala, this Wednesday, November 13, to mobilize “French-speaking Zionist forces”.
A week after the violence perpetrated in the city of Amsterdam, the president of Israel is Forever, Nili Kupfer-Naouri, organizes a gala to mobilize “French-speaking Zionist forces in the service of the power and history of Israel” . The Franco-Israeli lawyer is the daughter of Jacques Kupfer, former president of Likud France and founder of the association of which she now holds the presidency.
At the start of the year, Nili Kupfer-Naouri made comments which led to the filing of a complaint for “apology of war crimes and crimes against humanity” from the Human Rights League . Indeed, her statements during an interview given to Studio Qualita (a media outlet for Jewish immigrants in Israel) had created controversy, since she justified the colonization by force of Palestinian lands: “We no longer want neighbors barbarians, we understand that we must obtain our security and that is through mass emigration of Arabs from Gaza and Jewish settlement,” she said.
The controversial arrival of Bezalel Smotrich
For the occasion, several far-right personalities were invited, including the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich. The leader of Mafdal, a far-right Zionist movement, has increased his intolerant remarks in recent years. This “proud homophobe”, as he presents himself, is opposed to marriage for all and describes LGBT+ people as “abnormal”.
A fervent settler, he proposed, in March, a vast plan to grab 800 hectares of Palestinian land, the largest seizure of territory in the occupied West Bank. All this despite a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights which deplored “settler violence and violations linked to settlements” at the risk of eliminating “any practical possibility of establishing a State viable Palestinian”.
In August, Bezalel Smotrich called the blockage of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “justified and moral until our hostages are returned to us.” These comments, deemed “odious” by the international community, had earned him the “deep consternation” of France. During a previous private visit in March 2023, already organized by the “Israel is forever” collective, he added: “There are no Palestinians because there is no Palestinian people.”
The announcement of his arrival caused such an outcry that his spokesperson, Ephraïm David, finally affirmed “that no trip to Paris was planned”, although an appearance by videoconference cannot be ruled out.
Justice indifferent to calls from the left
Despite requests from several associations, unions and left-wing political parties, the gala will indeed take place on the evening of Wednesday, November 13. Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, gave his agreement, referring to a gala in small groups, taking place in “a place which does not pose a problem in terms of disturbances to public order”.
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, supported these remarks, invoking the decision of the summary judge of the Paris administrative court: “The question arose of the ban but the courts ruled and ruled in favor of our prefect police who did not ban this demonstration any more than we are going to ban other demonstrations which are opposed,” he declared on TF1.
In response, several political parties and associations, including France Insoumise, Europe Écologie – Les Verts, Urgence Palestine and the CGT, are organizing a pro-Palestinian march in Paris around 6 p.m. this Wednesday.