Israeli Minister Calls Prospect of Marine Le Pen Presidency "Excellent"

Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said on Israeli public radio KAN that the possibility of Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN), becoming president would be "excellent for Israel," given her "firm stance" on Hamas, the International Criminal Court, and antisemitism, Haaretz reports. He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "apparently shares the same opinion."

Chikli, who is involved in "the fight against antisemitism worldwide," considers Marine Le Pen a "prominent leader," praising her for marching with the Jewish community in November 2023 "during the march against antisemitism," which President Emmanuel Macron did not attend. Chikli, a Likud member, had already expressed his support for RN leader Jordan Bardella last week.

The next French presidential election is scheduled for 2027, but early legislative elections, organized after Macron unexpectedly dissolved the National Assembly, began on Sunday with the RN leading the first round.

Chikli's statement contrasts with the stance of most French Jewish community leaders, who strongly oppose the RN, the successor to Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front. Marine Le Pen's father was convicted of denying crimes against humanity after calling the Nazi gas chambers a "detail."

However, some voices within the Jewish community are showing a shift, such as prominent anti-Nazi figure Serge Klarsfeld, who recently said he would vote RN in a duel with the left in the upcoming legislative elections. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) has openly supported Gaza residents since the war began, resulting in over 37,000 deaths in the enclave according to the Gaza health ministry, compared to fewer than 1,200 on the Israeli side during the offensive by Hamas that triggered the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

From the early weeks of the conflict, Le Pen expressed strong support for Israel following Hamas attacks. Her party also criticized the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor general last month requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 incursion, Mohammad Deif, and political leader Ismail Haniyeh. On June 24, before the first round of legislative elections, RN leader Jordan Bardella stated his opposition to recognizing a Palestinian state, arguing that it would mean "recognizing terrorism."

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour