U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner on Sunday penned an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, published in The Wall Street Journal, criticizing the “dramatic rise of antisemitism in France” and Paris’ failure to address the threat.

In the op-ed, Kushner, who arrived at his posting last month, raised concerns that in France, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,” citing statistics shared by the country’s Interior Ministry regarding the rise in antisemitism incidents.

Kushner called on Macron to “enforce hate-crime laws without exception; ensure the safety of Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses, prosecute offenders to the fullest extent; and abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies.”

In response, France’s Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner, issuing a statement calling his comments “unacceptable.” The letter comes weeks after Macron’s announcement that Paris intends to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations General Assembly.

An Anti-Defamation League report from 2023, released months before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, found that the “penetration” of antisemitism in France, the U.K., Germany and Spain “into the political mainstream is cause for concern and has in some cases alienated Jews and other supporters of Israel.”

Kushner wrote in the WSJ that since Oct. 7, 2023, “pro-Hamas extremists and radical activists have waged a campaign of intimidation and violence across Europe.”

Antisemitism in France has been on the rise for years. In 2022, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, at the time the Biden administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, warned that antisemitism in France was no longer “unique” and had spread across the European continent. 

Earlier this month, the head of CRIF, the French Jewish umbrella group that represents the community, noted a “very strong rise” in antisemitism in the country, adding, “I don’t know a family that is not speaking about” emigration to Israel.