Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday confirmed that Israel has ended its boycott of three right-wing European parties, including the National Rally Party of France, citing their support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism.
Israel, which has boycotted National Rally for decades, will maintain ties with it “as with any other political party,” in addition to the Sweden Democrats and Vox in Spain, Sa’ar said in a statement.
National Rally under Marine Le Pen and Jonathan Bardella is France’s third-largest party with 143 seats out of 577 in the lower house of the French parliament. Le Pen received 41% of the vote in the 2022 presidential elections.
“After I reviewed the matter and heard the opinion of the professional level, I didn’t see a reason not to do so,” Sa’ar said to Jewish community leaders in Brussels during his visit earlier this week, according to the statement of his office, which quoted what he’d said in that meeting.
Israel’s foreign ministry has refrained from engaging in direct, public contact with those parties, which are controversial in the Jewish communities of their respective countries and beyond.
CRIF, the umbrella group of Jewish communities in France, did not immediately comment on the decision. Bruno Benjamin, a former president of CRIF’s branch in Marseille, told JNS that he understands the decision because it was “inevitable.”
National Rally “has done the work of cleaning up its ranks. It has stood up for Israel.” In parallel, the French left has radicalized against Israel gradually, he said.
“Intuitively, Muslim voters have rallied around the left, which turned against Israel. The National Rally under its current leadership stood up for Israel, so this is natural,” Benjamin said.
National Rally may still have some antisemitic supporters and members, Benjamin said, “but so do other parties, including the Socialists, the France Unbowed party and even the Republicans” of France. The decision to boycott parties should be based on “how forcefully and consistently they confront” antisemitism and antisemites that gravitate toward them, Benjamin added.
The cleanup referenced by Benjamin refers to the expulsion under Marine Le Pen of dozens of antisemites from a party whose previous leadership flirted with Jew-hatred and Holocaust denial.
Sa’ar addressed this in his statement. “Part of these parties have bad roots. But we look at their deeds on the ground today. Do they denounce or ban party members with anti-Semitic statements? This is a substantial indication,” Sa’ar said.
National Rally, formerly called National Front, was established by the late Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died on Jan. 7 at age 96.
His daughter, Marine Le Pen, took over the party’s leadership and eventually kicked him and others out for antisemitic rhetoric. National Rally seeks to limit dramatically immigration from Muslin countries to France and the footprint of Islam in the public space.
In 2017, Le Pen said that she supported banning Muslim head covers but that this would require also banning the public wearing of the kippah in public due to constitutional principles on equality. She said this was a “sacrifice” French Jews needed to make to fight radical Islam and antisemitic violence by Muslims, and she has described her party as “the shield” for Jews in this endeavor.
National Front is also opposed to the slaughter of animals for meat without stunning, which is required for producing both kosher and halal meat, and to the non-medical circumcision of boys, another custom shared by Jews and Muslims.
CRIF has boycotted National Rally, as well as the far-left French party France Unbowed of Jean-Luc Melenchon, an anti-Israel populist who has been accused of antisemitism. Last year, France Unbowed formed a bloc with the Socialist Party, leading many Jews to vote for National Rally in the legislative election.
Israel’s Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli met Bardella, the National Rally president, last week in Washington, D.C.
Bardella “is one of the most pro-Israel voices in Europe. Unlike the chorus of European left-wing parties, he has firmly opposed recognizing a Palestinian state at this time, arguing it would reward terrorism and is not currently on the agenda,” Chikli wrote on X in response to criticism in Israel over this move.
Israel has come under attack in Western Europe, especially by left-wing parties with large Muslim constituents. National Rally, Sweden Democrats and Vox have consistently spoken up for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on it by Hamas, as have other like-minded parties in Germany (AfD) and beyond.
Sweden Democrats have also filed a motion in their country’s parliament in favor of banning nonmedical circumcision of boys. Israel’s foreign ministry has in the past defended Jewish customs against attempts to limit them.
Sa’ar acknowledged this issue during his meeting in Brussels. “We are holding a dialogue on Jewish life issues like brit milah and shechita,” he stated, referring to circumcision and meat production. “We do not want to give up on friends in Europe, but we also don’t want to give legitimacy to parties that empower neo-Nazi phenomena.”
He said Jewish communities are consulted regularly on such issues.