We do not know how much of these propaganda pamphlets were inspired by Napoleon , but they or similar documents that are lost reflect his flair for propaganda. Despite bulletins sent home that proclaimed victory at Acre and the taking of Jerusalem , his army did not succeed in its siege of Acre. The plan of conquest failed and after a year, Napoleon abandoned his army and by August 1799 had returned to France , where, however, he stated that“If I governed a nation of Jews , I should reestablish the Temple of Solomon.” Did he see himself following the footsteps of the Roman Emperor Julian with the hope of re-establishing the ancient Temple?
Napoleon was friendlier to Jews than contemporary rulers and certainly than those a generation earlier. For example, Maria Theresia (1717-1780) expelled Jews from various provinces and also temporarily from Prague . When she had to meet with a Jewish financier, she sat behind a curtain!
Napoleon may have understood Jews as a nation now scattered around the world, but longing for their own country. What about them in France ? After this aborted effort in the Near East , he faced the problem of the Catholic Church head on and curtailed it?! Then turned to the Protestants and finally he felt compelled to deal with the Jewish population. He had stated that he would turn to them after completing the Concordat. “They are a particular nation whose sect does not mix with another; we will have therefore to deal with them later on.”
None of this would have demanded a Sanhedrin as Napoleon could easily have settled matters by decree as he did with the first part of his Edict of 1806. This is what the Jewish community would have expected and would have fallen under the rubric dina demalhutah dina; it would be seen as the law which needed to be followed.