"Very serious remarks": on RMC, Dominique de Villepin responds to CRIF president Yonathan Arfi

On Thursday, at the 39th annual dinner of the CRIF, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, its president, Yonathan Arfi, called Dominique de Villepin the "Mélenchon of the wealthy neighborhoods."

In front of Prime Minister François Bayrou , the head of the CRIF attacked elected officials "who choose to fan the flames with excesses": "There is one with a worldly populism and inimitable style, Dominique de Villepin, who has become a Mélenchon of the wealthy districts."

"He should have been more careful with his words," replied Dominique de Villepin this Friday on the set of Les Grandes Gueules, who has repeatedly condemned the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip and called for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

"He made unacceptable and extremely serious remarks in our Republic. When you are at the head of such a prestigious institution, you have a duty to respect republican principles."

"The first principle is that of responsibility and it runs the risk of creating confusion, that of confusion between the policy of the Netanyahu government, the State of Israel and the Jewish community," the former Prime Minister continued on RMC and RMC Story .

"All French people have experienced and shared with the Jewish community and Israel the suffering of October 7 and the odious nature of this terrorist act," added Dominique de Villepin regarding the Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. "Suffering is limitless and must be directed toward others who are suffering, and this is the case today in Gaza. We must not establish competition in suffering."

Dominique de Villepin believes that with his remarks, Yonathan Arfi is launching a "manhunt" against him, "in front of members of the government who have not budged and are used to being lectured." A "manhunt" when he is already the target of threats:

"I have been targeted for months, harassed, threatened with death, as have my family, my son and my daughters," he reveals.

Regarding the war in Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dominique de Villepin believes that "not a single sentence" can be held against him. "I have always sought a point of balance and initiative, but nuance is aggressive for the die-hard supporters of a party," concludes the former Prime Minister.