Even ‘Fauda’ Is Fleeing: With Antisemitic Attacks on Rise in France and Macron’s Government in Trouble, Israeli Television Series Pulls Out of Country

As President Emmanuel Macron fights a budget crisis that could topple his government, and while Paris escalates a feud with Jerusalem, even the intrepid “Fauda” is fleeing France for fear of its increasing attacks against Jews and Israelis.France’s Socialist party announced Thursday that it would join next week’s no-confidence vote in the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, likely ending the tenure of Mr. Macron’s fourth premier.If, as widely expected, Mr. Bayrou fails to pull a rabbit out of his hat next Monday, the French president will need to opt between appointing a new government or calling a presidential election. A recent Le Figaro poll shows that only 15 percent of French voters support Mr. Macron, while 80 percent express no confidence in the president. Kan News reported Wednesday that Mr. Macron’s plan to visit Israel ahead of the September 21 United Nations General Assembly general debate was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who conditioned any such visit on reversing France’s recognition of a Palestinian state. The stars of ‘Fauda’ Season 5, Lior Raz and Melanie Laurent. Yes promotion photo/Ohad RomanoMr. Macron’s intention to recognize Palestine will “embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France,” the American ambassador to Paris, Charles Kushner, wrote recently in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, citing statistics that show increasing antisemitic attacks across the country. So much so that even Israel’s most popular television series is being forced to flee France. According to a short preview of the Netflix series’s fifth season, the fictional “Fauda” team of Israeli fighters seek Hamas terrorists at Marseille, France. Yet, concerns for the safety of the filming crew and stars forced the production to relocate to Budapest from the southern French city, Israel’s Mako reported this week. That the show’s tough heroes, including actors who in real life have served in special army units, are being forced to flee France is stoking Israeli accusations that Mr. Macron’s political crisis is fueling his Mideast maneuvering. While the UN already recognizes Palestine as a “state under occupation,” the planned French-led UN conference is meant to convey a global consensus around such recognition. America opposes the move, and Secretary Marco Rubio denied a visa to the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, who had planned to participate in the UN session.Reacting to rumors that France sought to move the conference on Palestinian statehood to Geneva from New York in response to the visa denial, Mr. Macron reiterated that the session would take place at the UN headquarters on September 22, which falls on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. As budgetary constraints erode his public support, the French president is increasingly turning to the global scene, leading Europe’s policy in Ukraine and attempting to place France at the center of Mideast politics. Mr. Macron “is trying to intervene from the outside in a conflict to which he is not a party, in a manner completely disconnected from the reality on the ground after October 7,” the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, wrote on X Tuesday.The top Israeli diplomat cited the Palestinian Authority’s incitement to violence in schoolbooks and its “pay for slay” payments for terrorists for attacks on Israelis. Mr. Saar’s Paris counterpart, Jean Noel Barrot, was livid. “Regardless of our disagreements on the Palestinian issue, this is grossly unfair, dear Gideon,” the French foreign minister wrote in response to the X posting.Mr. Barrot insisted that the French foreign ministry and its counterparts in Britain, Canada, and Australia have “secured unprecedented commitments” from Mr. Abbas that the “pay for slay” scheme has ended as of August 1. He also writes that Palestinian school books that contain anti-Israeli incitement will be reviewed, and that Arab states will help ensure the disarmament of Hamas. “Dear Jean Noel, I was astonished to read your claim that the Palestinian Authority allegedly ‘ended’ the pay-for-slay payments,” Mr. Saar wrote Wednesday in response. While Ramallah “replaced the old system with a new one,” the Israeli writes, the Palestinian Authority continues to transfer money to bank accounts of families of terrorists killed amid attacks on Israelis or those serving time on terrorism charges. It’s “like moving from one pocket to another,” he writes. Mr. Saar also says that despite Ramallah’s promises, incitement against Israelis in Palestinian school books persists. Mostly, he notes, Hamas is praising France for recognizing Palestine. “The initiative by several countries to recognize a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7,” a Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, said early last month. “We proved that victory over Israel is not impossible, and our weapons are a symbol of Palestinian dignity.” “Fauda” is widely praised for a highly nuanced depiction of Israel’s war against terrorists. Mr. Macron, in contrast, seems eager to avoid any such nuance as he attempts to break away from France’s growing crises.

Even ‘Fauda’ Is Fleeing: With Antisemitic Attacks on Rise in France and Macron’s Government in Trouble, Israeli Television Series Pulls Out of Country

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