The deputies of the presidential party Mathieu Lefèvre and Constance Le Grip ask, in a letter addressed to Mathilde Panot, to withdraw the vice-presidency of Aymeric Caron and Ersilia Soudais from these two groups because of their position on the Hamas attack in Israel .
The Hamas terrorist attack in Israel arouses tensions even in the friendship groups and study groups of the National Assembly. The Renaissance president of the France-Israel friendship group, Mathieu Lefèvre, and the Renaissance president of the study group on anti-Semitism, Constance Le Grip, wrote on Tuesday, October 10 to Mathilde Panot, leader of the LFI deputies, to ask him to “remove the vice presidency” of these groups to two LFI deputies, Aymeric Caron and Ersilia Soudais. The first sits in the France-Israel friendship group, the second in the study group on anti-Semitism.
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In this letter consulted by franceinfo, Constance Le Grip and Mathieu Lefèvre criticize the position of La France insoumise on the violent terrorist attacks of Hamas. “You cannot at the same time hold an anti-Zionist speech and refuse to explicitly condemn
terrorist barbarity and continue to be represented in a group of studies and friendship which fight against anti-Semitism and which make the security of the State of Israel a non-negotiable imperative”they denounce.
Mathilde Panot refuses to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization
These positions are controversial within Nupes itself, with the other left-wing parties adopting a very different attitude. “The armed offensive by Palestinian forces led by Hamas comes in a context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We deplore the Israeli and Palestinian deaths”could we read in the LFI press release of October 7. “Gaza has been an open-air prison for a long time, amid general indifference! Hate attracts hatred, and some seem to discover that it is always civilians who pay the price of war. More than words, we need justice to make peace”Ersilia Soudais also reacted.
Mathilde Panot also refused on Tuesday to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization, once again attracting the wrath of the political class and socialists. The head of the LFI group preferred to talk about “war crimes”. The two Renaissance presidents believe that“by refusing, again this morning, to condemn [l’attaque du Hamas] explicitly, the deputies of your group demonstrate collusion with the actions of a terrorist group (…). These words constitute, if not an apology for terrorism, at least a form of complacency towards the groups which engage in it”.
“Their position is not that of France”
“I don’t really want Mr. Caron can take advantage of a video exchange with members of the Knesset [le Parlement israélien], scheduled for Thursday”Mathieu Lefèvre further informs franceinfo. “Beyond the divergence in the assessment of the conviction, this friendship group and this study group also have a diplomatic vocation, namely to carry the word of the National Assembly and of France, however, their position is not that of France.” It is on the social network that Aymeric Caron reacted to this letter. “MP Mathieu Lefèvre announces that he wants to exclude me from the France-Israel friendship group because I denounce Netanyahu’s far-right government, he is indignant. They have completely lost their minds, at the very moment when we must collectively work for peace, by looking at events lucidly.”
Originally, Constance Le Grip and Mathieu Lefèvre had planned to write to Yaël Braun-Pivet, the President of the National Assembly so that she withdraws their titles from Aymeric Caron and Ersilia Soudais. But, “to the extent that the office had noted that each group has a vice-presidency, It’s up to the LFI group to act”, said a parliamentary source. Mathilde Panot’s response is now awaited.