As often happens, war between Israel and Palestinian jihadists has sparked violence on the streets of France. But unlike in previous instances the terror hasn’t been directed solely or even primarily at Jews. Yaron Gamburg explains the situation, its connection to Paris’s clumsy handling of the Israel-Hamas war, and the state of Franco-Israeli relations:

Since October 2023, France has confronted a new wave of violence attributed to Islamic radicalization in the country. On October 13, a young Chechen Muslim murdered a literature teacher in the northern French city of Arras, three years after a similar attack shook the country. On December 2, a young man of Iranian descent murdered a tourist in central Paris, avenging the death of Muslims “from Gaza to Afghanistan.”

France was particularly outraged by a violent incident on November 18 in the town of Crépol in southern France, an outlying agricultural area that is less exposed to the Islamization threat. During a party of young people, about ten Muslim youths from a nearby town raided the party, shouted that they would “kill all whites,” brutally attacked the participants, and murdered a sixteen-year-old boy. Apart from the event’s racist and brutal nature, the public was outraged over the government’s response. Law-enforcement authorities delayed announcing the suspects’ names to avoid exposing their Muslim heritage, and the government even attempted to bar demonstrations in solidarity with the victim.

Israel’s strategy in managing its relations with France should consider these trends. . . . It is essential to support the French government’s efforts to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, which are currently associated with the alliance between the extreme left and radical Islam.

In a statement released on social media on Monday, the president-elect declared that if the hostages held by Hamas are not released before his inauguration, “there will be all hell to pay” for those who “perpetrated these atrocities against humanity.” But will Hamas take such a threat seriously? And, even if Donald Trump decides to convert his words into actions after taking office, exactly what steps could he take? Ron Ben-Yishai writes:

While Trump lacks direct military options against Hamas—given Israel’s ongoing actions—he holds three powerful levers to pressure the group into showing some flexibility on the hostage deal or to punish it if it resists after his inauguration. The first lever targets Hamas’s finances, focusing on its ability to fund activities after the fighting ends. This extends beyond Gaza to Lebanon and other global hubs where Hamas derives strength. . . . Additionally, Trump could pressure Qatar to cut off its generous funding and donations to the Islamist organization.

The other levers are also financial rather than military: increasing sanctions on Iran to force it to pressure Hamas, and withholding aid for the reconstruction of Gaza until the hostages are released. In Ben-Yishai’s view, “Trump’s statement undoubtedly represents a positive development and could accelerate the process toward a hostage-release agreement.”