00:00Today marks three years since the October 7th attacks by Hamas, a day that shocked Israel and
00:05the world. Meanwhile, the war on Hamas in Gaza continues to produce a human tragedy with thousands
00:10dead and no clear path to peace. At the parliament in Strasbourg, tensions erupted with one French
00:17MEP of Palestinian and Kurdish origin accused of kicking an Israeli flag to the ground.
00:23Rima Hassan denies throwing the flag and says she actually just removed it from its stand.
00:29Taking to X, she said, my gesture is part of the denunciation of the ongoing genocide,
00:33of violations of international law and of this incessant and unbearable double standard.
00:39She said a Russian flag would never be admitted. After that instant, Israel's ambassador to France,
00:45that's Joshua Zarca, told our Europe editor, Maria Taddeo, that the episode reflects rising
00:49anti-Semitism in France. I cannot understand how a person that aims to be a politician,
00:56that aims to represent the public, can be so violent and disrespectful of the death of thousands
01:03of people that has been caused by the same cause that she's trying to help.
01:09The head of the European Parliament is saying this is unacceptable and she takes this extremely
01:13serious. From your part as the Israeli ambassador to France, will you ask for the European Parliament
01:20to put forward more sanctions? Will you ask the French government to take action once the details
01:27are clarified?
01:28You know, Mrs. Rima Hassan, the member of Parliament that kicked down the flags,
01:33is accused of support to terrorism. She is supposed to appear before court in the next few days.
01:42This is a person that has been extremely active in her anti-Zionism and her anti-Semitism in the
01:49support of terrorism. She openly supports Hamas. She openly supports what Hamas did on October 7th.
01:56This is a terrible person. Let's be clear. And I think that it is, she's perceived to be a terrible
02:02person by the largest part of the French politics. So I, it's not that I need to convince anybody
02:09that that's the case. And she's also supporting openly terrorism in her statements and in the
02:16support that she gave to terrorist acts that took place in Israel in the past. So she's a terrible
02:21person. Let's say, let it be clear about that.
02:24I do want to clarify, there is an ongoing legal process, but she has denied, she supported or expressed
02:30an apology of terrorism. Of course, that case will continue its path. But specifically though,
02:35given that this incident took place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, will you escalate this
02:40matter to French authorities? Will you ask for this to be investigated as hate, anti-Semitism?
02:46This is an issue that has been dealt with by the European Parliament. In our division of Labour,
02:53our embassy to Brussels, the embassy to the European Union is the one in charge of following this issue.
03:01And to the best of my understanding, there is a very close dialogue between our embassy and the
03:06president of the European Parliament concerning this issue with the purpose of making sure that something
03:12like that will never happen again. And that Mrs. Reema Hassan faces the charges that she needs to face.
03:18But you say all anti-Semitism is unacceptable. I have to ask you about the allegations that have
03:22appeared in the French press that Jordan Bardella, the right-hand man of Marine Le Pen, made anti-Semitic
03:28comments when he was 17. Some of these comments include, the Jews control all the banks. Do you see
03:35that also equally worrying? Of course. Any type of anti-Semitism, any statement, any type of
03:41statement, act, anyway, is unacceptable and is comprehensible. Now, the question is, as you said,
03:48these are allegations and we are following very closely. And we will make or we will react to it
03:55once it is clear that these allegations are true, or if not, then we react. Otherwise,
04:00for the time being, we will reserve our response. We have an issue. There is an issue of anti-Semitism
04:07in France. There is an issue of anti-Semitism in Europe. Unfortunately, the raise of anti-Semitism
04:12has happened significantly after October 7th. But there is one party who is openly in France,
04:21openly anti-Semitic, and that's LFI. And the leader of that party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon,
04:26is copying the mimics of leaders that were active in Europe in the 30s of the last centuries.
04:36So are you making a comparison also to Naziism and Hitler? Would you say that this gentleman
04:40acts like Hitler did in the 30s? I've said that publicly in the past already, yes.
