Claeskrantz.se

Bernard Kouchner: Israel Got Lucky « The Fanonite

As I had said on another occasion, at times the worst
indicments come in the form of praise. Sarkozy’s choice for
Foreign Minister seems to have delighted some — the extreme-right
Free Republic, and Zionist hawk and anti-Arab/Islamophobic editor of The New Republic,
Martin Peretz, for instance. Peretz magnanimously forgives
Kouchner’s socialist past; it does not make ’make him
foul or “treyf” (non-Kosher)’,
because ”Kouchner and Sarkozy have intellectual and
political bonds that cross party lines”. He adds:

Andre Glucksmann, a good friend of Kouchner’s but
not by any means a socialist, may have planted the idea in
Sarkozy’s head [Glucksmann is also a ‘good friend’ of
Alain Finkielkraut, French Zionist comedian who passes for a
philosopher in the airier circles of Paris]. Or tilled the idea after
someone else or Sarkozy himself had raised it. After all, Glucksmann
had campaigned for Sarkozy, loyally and energetically. And the three share many values and convictions, whatever their party loyalties. They are friends of America, not at all friends, but antagonists of militant Islam, allies of the West as idea and reality, sympathetic, empathetic with Israel, aligned with the ex-communist democracies of Eastern Europe, etc. Enough said about this.

Sarkozy and Kouchner may agree on many things, but it would be unfair to consider them identical in their politics. New York Times reports:

Mr. Sarkozy opposed the American invasion of Iraq while
Mr. Kouchner, unlike most French people anywhere on the spectrum,
supported it.

Richard Holbrooke gushed with further praise for the man
described as ‘an effective early advocate of “humanitarian
intervention”’:

It will be very positive for U.S.-French relations,
because he does not come with a visceral anger towards the American
‘hyperpower.’ ”

Given the fabulous job NATO is carrying out in Afghanistan,
“Mr. Kouchner appears to support the maintenance of a strong
international — and French — presence in Afghanistan to
bring stability to the country”.

If all that weren’t enough to endear him to the average Brit
or American, he also always gets ”the best restaurant
tables”, and while Sarkozy’s appointed PM is an anglophile,
Kouchner is being described by NYT as an “Americaphile, a stance
that has led many in the Socialist Party to regard him as a
traitor.”

Friends and Foe (of Israel)

Sylvain Semhoun, the representative of Sarkozy’s Union for Popular Movement (UMP), told the Jerusalem Post, “Israel got lucky [with Kouchner]. Israelis should thank God it’s him and not Vedrine“.
Far from getting lucky however, it was the very heavy-handed approach
of the Israel Lobby that brought about this change. According to Le Canard Enchaine:

As soon as the leaders of CRIF (Conseil
représentatif des institutions juives de France) learned of
the prospect [of the appointment of Vedrine] from the new Head of
the State, Roger Cukierman, outgoing president of CRIF [the French Israel lobby], telephoned Claude Guéant with a violent warning.

“We held a meeting with CRIF, today, and the rumour circulated
of the nomination of Védrine to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs . That caused panic because, for us, Védrine is worse than the usual anti-Israelis of the Quay D’Orsay.”

A little later, Cukierman directly joined Sarkozy and said
to him that the Jewish community would take the nomination of
Védrine as a “casus belli”.

It should be understood that Cukierman and its friends had
campaigned across the country for Sarko explaining why the victory of
Ségolène would cause the return of Védrine to the
Quay!

So what makes Kouchner so much more appealing to Israel?

Kouchner, who was born to a Jewish father and a
Protestant mother, is close to right-wing Jewish MP Pierre Lellouche,
who advises Sarkozy on international issues. And Kouchner received an
honorary degree from Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba at the height
of the second intifada…

Kouchner at the diplomatic helm, coupled with the new American-style
National Security Adviser Jean-David Levitte - former French ambassador
to Washington - Sarkozy is making good on his pledge of support to his
American friends.

Kouchner and Levitte broke ranks with the French government in 2003,
refusing to oppose the invasion of Iraq. Kouchner published an article
in Le Monde arguing the positives in toppling Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile in Israel, some have already registered their satisfaction:

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has said that with the
coming to power of his friend Sarkozy, he expects French Middle East
policy “will no longer be characterized by reflective
anti-Israelism.

Diverse
Frankrike, Mellanöstern