An Israeli rabbi who threatened French President Emmanuel Macron following France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state has been reported to French authorities.
In a YouTube sermon, Rabbi Daniel David Cohen described Macron’s July 24 policy shift as not only an attack on the Jewish people but a “declaration of war on God,” invoking divine claims over the land of Israel.
“This French president, we must let him know, he has every interest in preparing his coffin,” Cohen said, comparing Macron to the Roman Emperor Titus, who, according to rabbinic tradition, suffered divine punishment.
Cohen also predicted that France would suffer a collapse similar to Iran’s and urged Jewish people to leave the country before its downfall.
In response, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced that Cohen’s remarks had been reported to prosecutors and that efforts were underway to block the video’s distribution. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has since opened an investigation.
France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia condemned the statements as “intolerable,” emphasizing that Cohen has “never held a rabbinical position in France” and is neither trained nor certified by the French rabbinical authorities.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), also denounced the threats as “hateful and unacceptable,” stating they were “entirely disconnected” from official Jewish institutions in the country.
Torah-Box, a Jewish educational platform that had previously hosted some of Cohen’s teachings, clarified that it never published the controversial video and has since removed him from its contributors.
According to a 2023 profile on Rav Dori Connection, Cohen was born in Algeria, relocated to France after the end of French colonial rule in North Africa, and emigrated to Israel in 1976.
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