MPs consider banning anti-Zionism

MPs from all parties are considering whether to propose a bill to make anti-Zionism a crime in France, according to reports.

News of the plans came to light after philosopher and academic Alain Finkielkraut was the victim of allegedly anti-Semitic abuse on the sidelines of a gilets jaunes demonstration. The Paris public prosecutor has opened an investigation

A cross-party group - led by LREM's Paris deputy Sylvain Maillard - has been working on the bill for some weeks, franceinfo reports. Mr Maillard said that, "hatred of Israel is a new way of hating Jews".

"We can criticise the government of Israel, but we cannot question the very existence of this state. No one questions the existence of the French state or the German state," he said.

On Tuesday, he will propose to the 30-plus members of his group, to choose between two formulas: a resolution passed by the National Assembly to express a position, or a bill that will, he says, would take longer to implement.

They will make their decision on Tuesday afternoon, before Emmanuel Macron's speech at the dinner of the Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France on Wednesday.