From the Liveblog of
Friday, December 8, 2023
Macron defends menorah lighting at Elysee after critics claim disrespect to secularism
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron feels compelled to justify allowing a Jewish ritual at the Elysee Palace after critics accuse him of failing to respect France’s secular traditions.
During an award ceremony yesterday — at which Macron was handed a prize for his stance against antisemitism — France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia lit the first candle of a menorah — a ceremony that opens the week-long Jewish festival of Hanukkah — as Macron looked on.
Religion and state are separated by law in France, and opposition parties were quick to criticise the president after a video of the event went viral on social media.
Far-left heavyweight Manuel Bompard said on X, formerly Twitter, that Macron had made “an unforgivable political mistake,” while Green party deputy Sandrine Rousseau, also on X, said “it would have been possible to support France’s Jewish community without allowing a religious ceremony into the Elysee.”
But the most impactful reaction came from one of France’s foremost Jewish representatives.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the representative council of Jewish institutions in France (CRIF), said it had been “an error” to kick off Hanukkah in the presidential palace.
“It’s in the DNA of the republic to stay away from anything religious,” he told the Sud Radio broadcaster, adding that he had been “surprised” at the incident.
“Jews in France have always considered secularism as a law of protection and a law of freedom,” he said. “Anything that weakens secularism weakens the Jews of France.”
Historique !
Allumage de la 1ere bougie de #Hanouka au Palais de @Elysee par le Grand Rabbin de France @HaimKorsia avec @EmmanuelMacron
La petite lumière chasse beaucoup d’obscurité !
@PinchasRabbi @ElieKorchia pic.twitter.com/or58WGDhKY— Mendel Samama (@EURORabbi) December 7, 2023
Asked about the criticism during a visit to the Notre Dame cathedral today, Macron says he had no regrets “at all” and had allowed the celebration “in the spirit of the republic and of harmony.”
He had not himself participated in any religious ritual or ceremony that, he acknowledged, would have been “disrespectful of secularism.”
But “that’s not what happened,” he said.
