French PM to join Jewish representative group for annual republican dinner
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will be the special guest of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions at their traditional republican dinner on Monday evening. She is expected to maintain her demands for "dialogue" and "social cohesion".
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Elisabeth Borne recently presented her plan to combat racism and anti-semitism to the French parliament.
She is expected to use Monday's dinner with Jewish politicians, ambassadors, artists, religious figures and media personalities to reiterate her hope for a greater understanding between the multiple ethnic and religious strands which make up the French Republic.
The dinner of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif) is normally attended by the French president.
Lasy year, the then Prime Minister Jean Castex replaced Emmanuel Macron at the last moment because the president was involved in an emergency European Council meeting devoted to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The prime minister will, once again, be the guest of honour this year.
Elisabeth Borne's father, Joseph Bornstein, survived the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He committed suicide in 1972 when Elisabeth was 11 years old.
As government leader, she has made the fight against community rejection and incomprehension a central plank of policy.
Borne wants to see French schools organise at least one visit to a site linked to racism or anti-semitism for every student in the course of their secondary education. And she wants to see the nation's public servants, including teachers, better trained to deal with racist incidents.
Social cohesion showing signs of strain
Yonathan Arfi, the president of Crif, says the traditional dinner is an effort to celebrate the way in which the Jewish community is anchored in French history. And it is espacially important at a time when, according to Arfi, French social cohesion is showing signs of strain.
The Crif president says he hopes for a reaffirmation from the government of its determination to fight anti-semitism in all its forms.
Welcoming the prime minister's three-year plan to fight racism, Crif member groups have said the effectiveness of the proposed legislation will depend on the availability of public finance, and on the effort to improve the training of teachers and other public servants.
The many faces of anti-semitism
There were 436 reported acts of anti-semitism in France in 2022, a decline from the 589 such acts reported in the previous 12 months.
While acknowledging the decline of 26 percent year on year, Arfi stressed that the figures concern only incidents which are sufficiently serious to be reported to the police.
"Anti-semitism has many faces, including those of islamic extremism, of conspiracy theory, and a hatred of Israel," he pointed out.
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