An Israeli minister has backed Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, saying she would be an “excellent” leader for the country as her right-wing party aims to make a big impact in the election.
“Her becoming the president of France would be a great thing for Israel, with 10 exclamation points,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amihai Chikli said on Tuesday, later suggesting other members of Israel’s leadership might share his view.
“I think Netanyahu and I are of the same opinion,” he said when asked if the Israeli prime minister shared his views. According to the Times of IsraelThe media outlet stressed that it remains unclear what prompted Chikli to discuss Le Pen.
Ms. Le Pen’s National Rally performed better than expected in the European Parliament elections, defeating French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, leading Mr. Macron to call early general elections because he felt tensions would arise in the country if voters lost faith in his party and its policies.
France’s right-wing National Rally seeks to build on recent electoral success
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amihai Chikli speaks at the Israeli-American Council’s (IAC) 8th Annual National Summit on January 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Shahar Azlan/Getty Images)
So far, the bet has worked in the National Coalition’s favour, as it continues to perform well in national elections as well as in the European elections.
Le Pen ran unsuccessfully for the presidency three times in 2012, 2017 and 2022, but has improved her ranking and share of the vote each time over the past decade, most recently winning against Macron with 41.5% of the vote.
Some speculate that the cultural issues at the heart of the election will propel the Rally National and perhaps Le Pen to power in the 2027 presidential election. Immigration is a major issue for right-wing parties across Europe, as well as the backlash these parties have shown in response to recent anti-Semitic protests and attacks.
Rival camps move to thwart France’s right-wing National Party’s electoral momentum
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and member of parliament, speaks to reporters at her party’s headquarters after the announcement of the first results of the second round of France’s regional elections in Nanterre on June 27, 2021. (Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images)
Well-known Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld announced his support for the National Rally last week, telling French media outlet LCI: “If I have to choose between an anti-Semitic party and a pro-Jewish party, I will vote for the pro-Jewish party.” According to Le Monde.
Anti-Semitism has come into sharp focus in the election after the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl was deemed a hate crime. Two boys arrested in a Paris suburb have faced preliminary charges in connection with the crime, with prosecutors alleging that the rape was religiously motivated. ABC News reported..
Rabbi Moshe Sebag of the Grand Synagogue of Paris said the election showed that Jews in France “have no future.” Jerusalem Post He urges that “all young people should go to Israel or a safer country.”
Macron nervous as right-wing National Rally party gains momentum in first round of French elections
Nazi hunters Serge Klarsfeld, left, and Beate Klarsfeld arrive to attend the national memorial service for Holocaust survivors Simone Weil and her late husband Antoine Weil at the Pantheon in Paris on July 1, 2018. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via The Associated Press)
Sebeg argued that even though the far-right National Coalition party voiced support for the defense of Israel against Hamas after the October 7 attacks, the party has an underlying anti-Semitism that continues to trouble him.
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Jean-Marie Le Pen has been convicted repeatedly of anti-Semitic hate speech, including making statements downplaying the Holocaust. According to The Guardian:This has distanced Marine Le Pen from herself and her party, and from her father, the party’s founder.
“A lot of Ashkenazi Jewish families who have been here since before World War II would never have thought of voting for the National Union, but the left has become more anti-Semitic recently,” Sebag said. “Jews are centrists because they don’t know who hates them more.”
