French lawmakers have adopted a resolution equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. The motion was adopted with 154 votes for and 72 against, although over half the deputies didn't participate.  

Earlier this year, politicians from across the spectrum joined marches against anti-Semitism. 

They denounced a rise in attacks that some commentators blamed on incitement by Islamist preachers, others on the rise of anti-Zionism - opposition to the existence of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people. 

Lawmakers in parliament's lower house on Tuesday evening approved a non-legally binding resolution modeled on the definition of anti-Semitism set by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). 

The IHRA definition, which serves as an international guideline, does not reference "anti-Zionism" but does say denying Jews their right to self-determination is anti-Semitic. 

Following the vote, Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz tweeted his support, posting "This decision confirms President Macron's statement that anti-Zionism is the reinvented form of anti-Semitism. I call other countries to follow the example of France."

Debate over the resolution split Macron's ruling La Republique En Marche party, with opponents saying it could impede people from criticizing the Israeli government.  

On the day of the vote, 127 Jewish academics and public figures signed a petition against the bill.  

Their arguments were echoed in an open letter to France's National Assembly president. Some 39 organizations, including peace advocacy, pro-Palestine and human rights groups, warned against a separate definition of anti-Semitism, writing it "could weaken the universal and indivisible approach of the anti-racist struggle" and compromise the "defense of freedom of expression and assembly for groups and activists that must be able to defend the rights of Palestinians and criticize Israel's policy without being falsely accused of anti-Semitism."

The reality of anti-Semitism in France was highlighted hours before the vote passed, when scores of Jewish graves were desecrated in Westhoffen, east France, days after another incident in a nearby village.  

Some 107 graves were defaced with anti-Semitic inscriptions and Nazi symbols. There were 500 anti-Semitic attacks recorded in France in 2018.  

Following the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted "Jews are and make France. Those who attack them, even in their graves, are not worthy of the idea we have of France. Anti-Semitism is a crime and we will fight it, in Westhoffen as everywhere, until our dead can sleep in peace."