By Gerard Leval
On Oct. 9, 2025, France honored Robert Badinter, the late minister of justice and president of the French Constitutional Council, by inducting him into the Panthéon in Paris, where France has enshrined its greatest personalities.
Badinter, who led the fight against capital punishment in France and pursued a variety of human rights causes, was a proud Jew. He made confronting antisemitism one of his personal battles. He spoke and wrote widely about Jewish history and antisemitism and became one of the foremost defenders of the Jewish community in France.
At the ceremony which marked Badinter’s entrance into the Panthéon, only the fifth Jew to be so honored, France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivered a stirring oration that highlighted Badinter’s life and his contributions to France.
Macron took the opportunity to address Badinter’s fight against antisemitism and to assert his own commitment to combating the current version of antisemitism, all the while avoiding any reference to the hatred of Israel and of Zionism that is at the root of the virulent contemporary version of antisemitism.
As is his wont, Macron delivered an eloquent speech. Sensitive, thoughtful and moving, Macron’s remarks brilliantly described Badinter’s career.
His focus on Badinter’s confrontations with antisemitism were expressed in a lofty manner: Acknowledging France’s historic failings in protecting its Jews, the French president asserted that he and France “would never renounce the fight to counter antisemitism.”
His words could be considered a strong call to confront the growing antisemitism which is spreading through France.
While it was not possible to avoid being moved by Macron’s speech, enunciated with such sincerity and force, it was also difficult to reconcile that speech with other recent remarks and actions taken by Macron.
After all, the speech honoring Badinter took place mere weeks after Macron announced his intention to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state; a recognition that could only be seen as a reward to Palestinian terrorists for the massacres of Oct. 7, 2023, and an encouragement to enemies of Israel and of the Jewish community everywhere.
As brilliant and rhetorically moving as Macron’s speech was in its praise of Badinter and in its defense of Jews against growing antisemitism, the speech stood in stark contrast to the actual recent actions taken by Macron with respect to Israel’s struggles and the current stress being felt by many of France’s Jews as they confront increasingly hostility.
An important counterpoint to Macron’s eloquent plea for a confrontation with antisemitism was his recent reward to Palestinian terrorists and his encouragement to his fellow world leaders in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to follow him in this reprehensible path.
By his approach, Macron gave cover to those leaders to pursue a course of appeasement in the face of the growing antisemitism developing throughout the world which is endangering Jews worldwide.
In recent months, President Donald Trump has also offered remarks regarding the turmoil afflicting Jews in the Middle East and elsewhere. His remarks, both from the Oval Office and, most recently, at the podium of the United Nations, distinctly did not have any of the elegance of Macron’s various speeches.
In particular, Trump’s speech at the United Nations was meandering, disjointed and even bombastic, but it unambiguously laid down a marker to the killers in Gaza and their supporters throughout the world. And the world understood Trump’s meaning and took it seriously.
What Trump’s remarks about antisemitism have lacked in quality, his actions have had in abundance. Trump has not wasted time with the kinds of pieties about antisemitism that have peppered Macron’s remarks over the last few years. He has blustered and threatened often quite inarticulately, but he has been unambiguous in his demands for the release of the Hamas-held hostages.
As he stated at the U.N.: “Instead of giving in to Hamas’ ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: Release the hostages now. Just release the hostages now.”
Macron’s beautifully articulated phrases have harmed the cause of peace in the Middle East and have actually fueled antisemitism. In the wake of Macron’s comments, Hamas expressed its gratitude for his remarks.
Anti-Israel (and by implication, antisemitic) demonstrations in France have accelerated. No progress in Gaza ensued. The regrettable consequences of the Macron rhetoric were unqualifiedly apparent.
In contrast, even though Trump’s various pronouncements have lacked refinement, they have evidenced a course of action that has brought about a very real possibility for peace.
Inarticulate though he may have been in his speeches at the U.N. and elsewhere, Trump has unhesitatingly plunged directly into the heart of the matter and mapped out the details necessary for instituting a peaceful solution to a seemingly intractable problem.
He has cast aside the niceties and platitudes that have epitomized Macron’s speeches and instead, in his own way, he has pursued a practical and transactional path.
The Macron approach has achieved nothing.
The Trump approach has achieved the release of the last Gaza hostages and a roadmap to a disarmament of the Hamas terrorists and the removal of Hamas from power. While it cannot be denied that words can be important, including when praising dead Jews, actions on behalf of living Jews are clearly more important. Donald Trump has demonstrated this.
He is to be praised. Emmanuel Macron may wish to reconsider his approach to solving the scourge of antisemitism.
Gerard Leval is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of a national law firm.
