French Jews Shift Right as Macron Courts Anti-Israel Leftist Parties

French President Emmanuel Macron (AP/Kamil Zihnioglu, Pool) (AP/Kamil Zihnioglu, Pool)

‘I never imagined voting for the National Rally [of Le Pen] to curb antisemitism,’ said Alain Finkielkraut, a liberal Jew who is one of France’s best-known philosophers.

By Shula Rosen

In a move many French Jews see as a betrayal, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron is courting far-left anti-Israel parties after right-wing Marine Le Pen trounced his party in the first round of France’s snap elections.

Two years ago, Macron was widely endorsed by Jewish groups and his centrist policies.

However, the rise in antisemitism in the aftermath of October 7th, Macron’s calling snap elections, and the success of Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party have created a perfect storm that may cause many French Jews to vote for the right-wing candidate for the first time.

Yohann Taieb, a French-Jewish journalist, wrote on X on Monday that Macron “just endorsed a party controlled by pro-Hamas” forces and added that Jewish groups who had supported Macron were being “taken for a ride.”

This situation began with the far right’s strong showing in European elections on June 9th, during which they won 32% of the vote.

This prompted Macron to call early elections to unite the left and centrist parties.

However, this tactic failed as Le Pen grabbed 34%, leaving the other parties in the dust with the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition at 27.99% and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble alliance in third place with 20.76%.

The election is over, filling the French Parliament’s 577 seats and not unseating the Prime Minister. However, the election seems to be a referendum for Macron, and he is under pressure to reach out to far-left, anti-Israel parties, to the chagrin of French Jews.

Although Jews in France have been uneasy about the far-right and its reputation for antisemitism, in the wake of left-wing anti-Israel sentiment on the left, some are breaking with political tradition.

“I never imagined voting for the National Rally [of Le Pen] to curb antisemitism,” said Alain Finkielkraut, a liberal Jew who is one of France’s best-known philosophers.

A Nazi hunter and Holocaust historian Serge Klarsfeld said, “I would have no hesitation, I would vote for the National Rally.”

He explained that his life “revolves around defending Jewish memory, persecuted Jews, Israel. Now I’m faced with a far-left that’s in the grip of LFI, which reeks of antisemitism and violent anti-Zionism, or the National Rally, which has evolved.”