On April 28, 2015, French Consul General Axel Cruau held a small reception for visiting French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud. ADL International Affairs and Executive Committee members Eric Kingsley, Maurice and Kim Lewitt, Nicole Mutchnik, and Mary Weissmann joined Regional Director Amanda Susskind together with other Jewish community leaders in Los Angeles.
Ambassador Araud addressed the recent anti-Semitic and terrorist attacks in France. He described some of the challenges faced by the French government, with an estimated 3000 to 4000 radicalized Islamic extremists in the country, thousands coming back to Europe from Syria with new skills and training, the near impossibility of protecting 24/7 all religious institutions, and the limitations on legal solutions in a secular democracy. He reiterated France’s “total determination to fight” anti-Semitism – in the mainstream, in the streets and on line – and declared “Western society is at stake.”
Kingsley thanked the Ambassador, praised recent remarks of French governmental officials (ADL Praises French Government Strategy to Combat Anti-Semitism) and asked about specific steps being undertaken to combat anti-Semitic violence. Susskind also pointed out that ADL was responsible for making the French Prime Minister’s January 13 speech widely accessible by posting it with English subtitles and sending an Open Letter to PM Manuel Valls.