ISRAELI Minister BACKS French PRESIDENT

As her right-wing party looks to make major gains in the current election, an Israeli minister has endorsed Marine Le Pen for president of France, calling her an “excellent” leader for the nation.

 

Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli remarked on Tuesday, “It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks,” later suggesting that other members of Israel’s leadership would agree with him.

 

When asked if the Israeli prime minister held the same attitude as him, he responded, “I think Netanyahu and I are of the same opinion,” according to The Times of Israel. The publication emphasized that what specifically inspired Chikli to talk about Le Pen is still unknown.

 

In the European parliamentary elections, Le Pen’s National Rally performed better than predicted, overwhelming the centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron and forcing him to call for a snap election because he believed that losing confidence in his party and its policies would cause tension in the nation.

 

As in the European elections, National Rally’s risk has so far paid off, as seen by its strong performance in the first round of its parliamentary election. On Sunday, the nation’s legislative elections began their second and final round.

Le Pen has made three failed presidential runs, in 2012, 2017 and 2022, increasing her position and percentage of the vote in each of those elections. In her most recent campaign against Macron, she received 41.5% of the vote.

 

There are conjectures that the cultural concerns at the core of the election might catapult National Rally—and possibly Le Pen in the 2027 presidential contest—to national dominance. Right-wing parties in Europe have made immigration a major issue, and they have also reacted negatively to recent antisemitic demonstrations and attacks.

 

Renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld declared last week that he would support National Rally, telling French outlet LCI that if given a choice between “an antisemitic party and a pro-Jewish party, I would vote for a pro-Jewish party,” that is, National Rally, Le Monde reports.

 

Following the reported gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl, which many have labeled as a hate crime, antisemitism has gained significant attention in the race. Prosecutors filed preliminary accusations against two teenage males who were detained in a Paris suburb for the rape, claiming that the act was motivated by religion, as ABC News reported.

 

The election has shown him that French Jews have “no future” in France, according to Rabbi Moshe Sebbag of the Grande Synagogue in Paris, who told The Jerusalem Post that he encourages “everyone who is young to go to Israel or a more secure country.”