Allegations of Anti-Semitism
On several occasions, Raymond Barre made remarks that were interpreted as anti-Semitic, or at least supportive of anti-Semitism. In 1980, when he was prime minister, a bombing was attempted against a synagogue in the rue Copernic, in Paris; however the bomb detonated in the street when the Jews attending shabbat were inside the synagogue, and not when they were out; but as a result some non-Jewish bystanders were killed. Raymond Barre then famously denounced:
- "A hateful attack which wanted to strike at the Jews who were in that synagogue, and which struck innocent French people who were crossing the street."
A controversy erupted because Raymond Barre's sentence seemed to imply that the Jews inside the synagogue were neither completely innocent, or were not French.
On 5 February 2005, Raymond Barre spoke about Bruno Gollnisch, one of the leaders of the controversial Front National party (widely considered to be far-right):
- "Gollnisch is a likeable person, he gets sometimes carried away by outrageous speech, but he's a good person."
Later, Barre was criticized for defending the collaborationist Maurice Papon at his trial. He issued the following statement to his accusers:
" I am and have always been on the side of the Holocaust's survivors to condemn barbary and its accomplices."
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