France’s Grand Rabbi Asserts Right of French Jews to Have Links with Jews Elsewhere

Dr. Jacob Kaplan, Grand Rabbi of France, reaffirmed today the right of French Jews, “as free and equal citizens,” to express their political opinions and “to have moral and religious links with other Jews wherever they may be.” Dr. Kaplan thus challenged French Government spokesman and supporters who have attacked French Jewish leaders for their criticism of the French Government’s anti-Israel policies and, particularly, the decision of the Pompidou Government to sell jet planes to Libya, an avowed enemy of Israel. Writing in Le Monde, leading Paris daily, Dr. Kaplan declared that French Jews “do not automatically espouse without consideration of merits, Israel’s policies and positions. In this particular case,” he said, “France’s Jews, together with the overwhelming majority of France’s citizens, feel that the current French policy of supplying planes and arms to Libya jeopardizes Israel’s very existence.”

The Grand Rabbi’s reaffirmation and defense of French Jewry was in the form of a reply to an article which Le Monde published last month. Written by Rene Massigli, prominent French diplomat and former Ambassador to Britain, that article accused French Jews of having a “double allegiance” and Dr. Kaplan of being guilty of “intrusion into temporal affairs.” Dr. Kaplan strongly affirmed his right to take religious and moral positions on matters which he said affected the conscience of the nation, such as Biafra, Israel or Vietnam. He pointed out that Catholic and Protestant churchmen did the same thing and asked M. Massigli: “Are we to be forbidden to do so only because, in this particular instance, we hold views favorable to Israel?” M. Massigli’s article created a furore in France and the angry argument that followed it contributed to the feeling of many French Jews that they would be better off being silent on the issue.