France’s Chief Rabbi has been reported to state prosecutors for ‘apologising for war crimes’ after he said the Israeli military needed to ‘finish the job’ in Gaza.
Haim Korsia, 60, caused outrage on Monday by openly supporting Israel’s actions against Hamas in Gaza – a war which has seen tens of thousands of Palestinians die, many of them children.
He said live on a news channel: ‘I have absolutely no reason to be ashamed of what Israel is doing in the way it conducts the fighting’ and that ‘I am not uncomfortable with a policy that consists of defending its nationals.’
Rabbi Korsia added: ‘Everybody would be very happy if Israel finished the job, and we could finally build peace in the Middle East without people who only want one thing all the time – the destruction of Israel.’
Now today, French MP Aymeric Caron confirmed he had filed a complaint to Paris prosecutors for comments he claimed were ‘an apology for war crimes’.
Haim Korsia (pictured centre), 60, caused outrage on Monday by openly supporting Israel’s actions against Hamas in Gaza
In France this offence can be punished with up to five years in prison and a fine equivalent to £40,000.
Mr Caron said: ‘On the basis of Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, I have contacted the Paris Public Prosecutor to report these comments by the Chief Rabbi of France publicly apologising for war crimes in Gaza.’
In turn, prosecutors said they were examining the evidence, including video images, before proceeding.
There was no initial comment about the complaint from Rabbi Korsia, who is a former chaplain to the French Army.
Rabbi Korsia made his comments on the BFM news channel on Monday, saying that all Palestinians were victims ‘of an act of war that is the responsibility of Hamas’ who ‘refuse all proposals to stop the fighting.’
When asked if he was worried about the ferocity of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, he replied: ‘I am never uncomfortable with a policy that consists of defending [Israeli] citizens.’
Chief Rabbi of France Haim Korsia applauds during a demonstration against anti-semitism on August 27
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more wounded in Gaza and the West Bank since October 7th, when 1200 Israelis died during a Hamas raid on Israel.
The rising number of child and women deaths in Gaza and on the West Bank has led to the International Criminal Court (ICC) opening a war crimes investigation into what is being called a genocide by some.
This has included arrest warrants being issued in May for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant.
ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A.Khan KC, who is British, said compiled evidence pointed to both men bearing ‘criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine’.
These include ‘willful killing’, ‘intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population’ and ‘extermination, including in the context of deaths caused by starvation.’
Rabbi Korsia has regularly reported rises in anti-Semitism in France, particularly ones connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk