‘Policing thought’: French bill to fight antisemitism accused of silencing Israel critics Submitted by Tassa Adidi on Fri, 03/27/2026 - 12:56 Proposed law sanctions public statements ‘presenting acts of terrorism as legitimate resistance’ and creates a new offence punishing ‘incitement to the destruction or denial of a state’ Rally in support for activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid boat stopped by Israeli forces, in Lyon, south-eastern France, on 9 June 2025 (Alex Martin/AFP) Off A bill aimed at combating renewed forms of antisemitism, which is due to be debated on by parliament next month, has sparked a heated controversy in France in recent weeks. Many organisations and parts of the political left suspect the proposed legislation of exploiting the fight against antisemitism to censor and criminalise criticism of the Israeli government. The bill was introduced in November 2024 by Caroline Yadan, an MP representing French citizens living abroad in a constituency including Israel and Palestine, who left President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance parliamentary group last summer to protest against his recognition of the State of Palestine. Yadan, who is also vice-president of the France-Israel friendship group in the National Assembly, has also criticised the French president for calling in 2024 for a halt to arms deliveries to Israel. Officially, the proposed law aims to address the “resurgence” of antisemitic acts in France since 7 October 2023 and the development of “an obsessive hatred toward the state of Israel”. “These renewed forms of antisemitism - calls for the destruction of Israel and its comparison to a Nazi regime - are taking root in people’s minds with complete impunity,” the bill’s explanatory memorandum states. The proposal draws on a controversial definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), whose guiding examples include “the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity”. The IHRA definition, adopted as a non-binding resolution by the French National Assembly in 2019, was denounced by the French Human Rights League (LDH) and other organisations, which argued that it conflates legitimate criticism of Israel or the defence of Palestinian rights with antisemitism, and therefore infringes upon freedom of expression. “It wasn’t worrying as long as this definition remained a resolution. But now, with the Yadan bill, the aim is to criminalise the expression of certain opinions and prosecute anything critical of Israel,” Nathalie Tehio, president of the LDH, told Middle East Eye. ‘The aim is to criminalise the expression of certain opinions and prosecute anything critical of Israel’ - Nathalie Tehio, president of the Human Rights League Article 1 of the bill, in particular, extends the scope of the offence of incitement to terrorism and apology for terrorism - an offence that was integrated into the penal code in 2014 and has been increasingly used to prosecute pro-Palestine individuals and organisations. The article proposes to sanction public statements presenting acts of terrorism as legitimate resistance or publicly inciting people to pass a favourable judgment on acts of terrorism or on their perpetrators, further providing for allowing the local prefect to order the closure of places of worship in which such remarks are made. Article 2 creates a new offence punishing incitement to the destruction or denial of a state with five years' imprisonment and a 75,000 fine. In practice, a slogan like Free Palestine or calls for the creation of a unified state based on equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis could be considered a denial of Israel's existence and be subject to criminal penalties. Article 4 broadens the definition of Holocaust denial [...] by insinuation, comparison, analogy or approximation. In other words, it aims to criminalise any comparison between Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and crimes committed by other governments, such as apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany. Attack on freedoms Approved by a narrow majority of the National Assembly's Law Committee on 21 January, the bill is expected to be debated on 16 and 17 April. The government, which supports it, initiated an expedited procedure for its adoption. Speaking about the upcoming parliamentary vote in a speech last month at the 40th annual dinner of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), a powerful pro-Israel lobby, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: To call oneself anti-Zionist is to contest Israel's very right to exist. He also rejected the characterisation of Israel’s war on Gaza as genocide, equating it with a relativisation of the Holocaust. Macron says French nationals fighting for Israel in Gaza can't be ‘genociders’ Read More » On the right and far right, the bill has considerable support, while a large part of the left rejects it entirely. Your text does not allow us to fight antisemitism It protects a policy, that of the state of Israel and its criminal leaders, a policy of apartheid,” Gabrielle Cathala, an MP from the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI), said during the Law Committee discussions, accusing Yadan of “essentialising” Jews by associating them with Israeli policy. “This text poses a fundamental problem: it rests on a questionable, even dangerous, confusion between antisemitism, criticism of the state of Israel, and criticism of the policies it pursues,” Green Party MP Sandrine Rousseau said. “Your bill deliberately and dangerously conflates racist hatred with legitimate criticism of a political ideology and a state,” said Communist MP Elsa Faucillon, adding the text aims to “silence voices denouncing the genocide”. Before reaching the National Assembly, the Yadan bill was reviewed by the Council of State, which proposed some amendments in May, finding that certain offences were defined with vague terms that could lead to arbitrary situations. The French highest administrative court notably recommended removing the adverb indirectly that was used in the bill to broaden the scope of the offence of incitement and apology for terrorism to include acts or statements not specified in the text. ‘With this bill, we are defending a state and preventing any criticism of it at a time when that state is violating the most basic rules of international humanitarian law’ - Justine Banuls, member of the French Lawyers' Union The term was removed by the Law Commission following the recommendations of the Council of State, but in its place, it added the notion of implicit provocation. In a press release, the French Lawyers' Union (SAF) denounced a bill which, through the control of the implicit, constitutes a veritable (and risky) thought police operation in which the criminal judge would have to engage. Lawyer Justine Banuls, a member of the SAF, told MEE that the bill risks leading to trials based on unfounded accusations that undermine the presumption of innocence. This bill reaffirms a vague notion, already used to launch prosecutions against academics who have recontextualised what has been happening in the Middle East since 7 October within a historical framework, she said. Dozens of people have been prosecuted in France for apology for terrorism in this context, such as renowned academic Francois Burgat, who was accused of supporting Hamas for sharing statements made by the Palestinian group on social media. He was ultimately acquitted last year. Human Rights League chairwoman Tehio also indicates that the provision that proposes to punish the act of trivialising, minimising or relativising acts of terrorism or the danger represented by the perpetrators of these acts harms academic freedom. According to her, research work could be considered reprehensible if it includes explanations that could be seen as criticism of Israeli policy. 'Apology for terrorism' row in France shows silencing of debate about Palestine Read More » A historian doing their job could be accused of trivialising the [Hamas-led] 7 October attacks, even though the term 'terrorism' is not precisely defined in French law, Tehio told MEE. In a letter addressed to lawmakers, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), an independent governmental body that monitors the respect for human rights, also concluded that the provision criminalising calls for the destruction of a state constitutes another attack on freedom of expression. [It] will have the effect of discouraging the existence of legitimate and healthy debates in a democratic regime on the relevance of recognising a new state, on the legitimacy of the form of government adopted by a state, or even on the historical conditions of its creation,” the CNCDH wrote. Banuls agreed, adding that the proposed law gives carte blanche to Israel's illegal activities. “With this bill, we are defending a state and preventing any criticism of it at a time when that state is violating the most basic rules of international humanitarian law, and when its highest-ranking leaders are subject to international arrest warrants for war crimes,” she told MEE, in reference to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024 for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Gaza since October 2023. ‘Dangerous for French Jews’ French Jewish personalities have also condemned the bill, saying that by penalising criticism of the Netanyahu government and equating French Jews with Israel as a state, it risks being counterproductive to its stated objective of combating antisemitism. In an open letter, prominent Jewish figures accused the bill of perpetuating “the false equation between Jews, Israel and Zionism”. Likewise, the CNCDH believes that the bill reiterates the harmful premise that there is an inherent link between hatred of Jews and hatred of the state of Israel. ‘[The bill] exposes French Jews to acts of antisemitism by associating them with Israel’s massacres in Gaza. On the other hand, it could punish them if they criticise Israeli policies’ - Pierre Stambul, French Jewish Union for Peace Not only is this completely unfounded, but it also implies a highly problematic relationship of 'forced' solidarity between Jews, regardless of their personal beliefs and/or nationality, and this state, the rights monitor write. Pierre Stambul, co-president of the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP), told MEE that the bill imposes an assigned identity to French Jews that equates them with supporting the state of Israel and its policies. “It is therefore dangerous for the French Jews it claims to protect,” he said, adding that the bill is doubly risky. “On the one hand, it exposes French Jews to acts of antisemitism by associating them with Israel’s massacres in Gaza. On the other hand, it could punish them if they criticise Israeli policies,” he added. In an opinion piece published in January, his NGO warned that “if this bill were passed, children and grandchildren of genocide survivors and, more generally, victims of antisemitism [] could be prosecuted when they speak out [] against the ongoing genocide”. The UJFP also fears that, once again, treating the issue of antisemitism as separate from other forms of racism “denies the universal nature of the fight against racism”. If the bill obtains a majority in both houses of parliament, its opponents, particularly members of La France Insoumise, could refer it to the Constitutional Council, the body tasked with reviewing the constitutionality of French legislation. However, Banuls tell MEE, the Constitutional Council is a political institution, and “it is capable of both the best and the worst. The body’s chairperson is appointed by the president of the republic, whose current government supports the Yadan bill. France Paris News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0
March 27, 2026