The summoning to Paris of Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, following his allegations that the country had not done enough to combat antisemitism, marks his host country's formal displeasure with its top diplomat from the U.S. Kushner — the father of Jared Kushner, son-in-law to President Donald Trump — wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. It’s a far cry from Kushner’s time in an Alabama prison for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering.
Kushner was sentenced to two years after pleading guilty to his crimes. He spent months at the so-called Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, which also housed notable criminals like Jeffrey Skilling and former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Junior. Ironically, Kushner was prosecuted by Chris Christie, who was then the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey. Christie would later become Governor and a critic of Donald Trump. Kushner would finish out his sentence in a half-way house.
France’s foreign ministry has summoned Ambassador Kushner to appear Monday at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, saying in a statement that his allegations “are unacceptable." The diplomatic discord comes as French-U.S. relations have faced tensions this year amid Trump’s trade war and a split over the future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon. France and the U.S. have also been divided on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the split has eased with Trump expressing support for security guarantees and a warm meeting with Macron and other European leaders at the White House last week.
In the letter released late Sunday, Kushner wrote that “public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence and endanger Jewish life in France," urging Macron “to act decisively: enforce hate-crime laws without exception, ensure the safety of Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses ... and abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies.”
In response, the French ministry said that Kushner’s allegations violate international law and the obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another country. The dustup follows Macron’s rejection this past week of accusations from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state is fueling antisemitism. France is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe; its estimated 500,000 Jews marks the third-largest Jewish population in the world after Israel and the U.S., as well as approximately 1% of the national population.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott on Sunday evening said it stood by Kushner’s comments. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday.
When he announced his intention to nominate Charles Kushner in November, Trump called him “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.” In May, the Senate confirmed Kushner's appointment 51-45. During hearings, he told senators that he is a child of Holocaust survivors who came to the United States after World War II, and his grandmothers and other members of his family were executed by Nazis.
As Trump has rattled traditionally solid relationships with European allies, Kushner said he appreciates the history between the two countries and is “dedicated to building an even stronger relationship.”
As he prepared to leave office following his first term in December 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner, following a years-earlier guilty plea to allegations of tax evasion and witness tampering. Prosecutors alleged that Kushner had hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation after discovering his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, hiring a prostitute and arranging to have the encounter recorded with a hidden camera and sent to his own sister, the man’s wife.
Kushner founded Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, Jared Kushner was a senior adviser in Trump's first White House, working on a wide range of issues and policies, including Middle East peace efforts. Inspired by his father’s time in prison, Jared Kushner pushed Trump to back criminal justice reform legislation and was an integral part of the first Trump administration’s clemency efforts. In his early 20s and a law and business school student in the mid-2000s when his father was sentenced, Jared Kushner suddenly found himself having to run the family’s businesses while shuttling back and forth on weekends to see his father in Alabama.
“When you’re on the other side of the system, you feel so helpless,” Jared Kushner said in 2018. “I felt like, I was on this side of the system, so how can I try to do whatever I can do to try to be helpful to the people who are going through it” and deserve a second chance.
Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.
