Macron is heavily criticized for holding a Jewish ceremony at the Elysee Palace

2023-12-09 13:19:54, Kosova & Bota CNA

Macron is heavily criticized for holding a Jewish ceremony at the Elysee Palace

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of betraying the French Republic after attending a Jewish ceremony inside his official residence, the Elysee Palace.

In a country where the division of religion is religion itself, the candle lighting for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah inside the historic Festival Hall on Thursday was immediately criticized by politicians on the left and the right.

President Macron had invited the chief rabbi, Haimm Korsia, to light the first of eight Hanukkah candles, or candelabra, to mark the start of the Jewish festival of lights. Macron was rewarded for his fight against anti-Semitism.

But when the video of the ceremony appeared on social networks shortly after, criticism erupted from all sides.

For the French, the president had made a shameful mistake by allowing the introduction of religion into the secular presidency.

"As far as I know, this is the first time something like this has happened. This is a violation of secularism," said David Lisnard, a senior right-wing opposition figure who is also the mayor of Cannes.

"Elize is not a place of religion. You cannot compromise with secularism," said the socialist president of the Occitania region, Carole Delga.

"Will Macron now do the same for other religions? For some yes, for some no? This is a dangerous move," said Alexis Corbiere from the far-left France Unyielding.

This event has even shocked some French Jews.

"This is something that must not be allowed to happen again," said Yonathan Arfi, who heads the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France.

The idea of ??secularism was introduced into French law in 1905, after many years of disputes between the state and the Roman Catholic Church. The law guaranteed freedom of belief, but ended state involvement in the church and removed all signs of religion from public buildings./ REL