Elham Asaad Buaras
France’s Chief Rabbi, Haïm Korsia, has been reported to prosecutors for allegedly condoning war crimes after urging Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza. His remarks on August 26, supporting the bombing of Gaza that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, sparked widespread outrage.
If tried and convicted, Korsia could be punished with up to five years in prison and a fine equivalent to £40,000. “I have absolutely no reason to be ashamed of what Israel is doing in the way it conducts the fighting” and that “I am not uncomfortable with a policy that consists of defending its nationals,” he told the BFM news channel.
Korsia, a former chaplain to the French army, said, “Everybody would be very happy if Israel finished the job, and we could finally build peace in the Middle East without people who only want one thing all the time—the destruction of Israel.” When asked if he condemned the massacres in Gaza as he did the Israeli deaths on October 7, he responded, “They are not of the same order.”
Left-wing MP Aymeric Caron, who lodged a complaint with the Paris Public Prosecutor under Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said, “The masks have completely fallen in recent months. Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia openly supports the ongoing genocide in Gaza, claims it is justified, and expresses his disdain for Palestinians, whose flag he finds offensive to display.”
“Apology for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These are crimes punishable by law,” said Caron, questioning whether the Rabbi will be summoned by the courts, as some defending Palestinian rights have been.
In turn, prosecutors said they were examining the evidence, including video images, before proceeding.
Calls for investigating the Rabbi’s remarks arise as President Emmanuel Macron’s government faces criticism for suppressing dissent over Israel’s actions in Gaza. This follows opposition leader Mathilde Panot being summoned by police for allegedly offering an “apology for terrorism” in her condemnation of Israel. Panot, an MP and leader of the largest left-wing parliamentary group, France Unbowed, has been vocal in denouncing the war on Gaza. She stated, “It is the first time in the history of the French Republic that the head of an opposition group in parliament is summoned for such a serious reason on the basis of fallacious accusations.”
Panot vowed, “We will not be silent. No summons, no intimidation of any kind will prevent us from protesting against the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.” She further criticised the government, saying, “The Macronist regime has crossed all imaginable lines.”
In April, authorities cancelled two conferences by LFI politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon in Lille, and party member Rima Hassan was summoned by police for similar “apology for terrorism” charges. The left-wing For Reunion Party criticized the actions against Panot, calling them an “authoritarian drift” and accusing the government of using the justice system to silence opposition to the genocide in Palestine.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more wounded in Gaza and the West Bank since October 7th, when 1,200 Israelis were killed during a Hamas raid on Israel. The rising number of child and woman deaths in Gaza and on the West Bank has led to the International Criminal Court opening a war crimes investigation into what is being called a genocide by some. This has included arrest warrants being issued in May for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Photo: France’s Chief Rabbi, Haïm Korsia, (Credit: Claude Truong-Ngoc/WikiCommons)
