93% of Franco-Israelis voted to keep Sarkozy
While in the mainland the race was extremely tight, Israelis overwhelmingly picked the eventual loser
Raphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
In contrast to a tight race in the French homeland, citizens of La Grande Nation living in Israel overwhelmingly favored the incumbent president.
Some 92.8% of the nearly 10,000 ballots cast in polling stations across Israel wanted to see the more conservative Nicolas Sarkozy enter a second-term. Only 7.2% voted for his Socialist challenger, Francois Hollande, who won the race for France’s presidency Sunday.
In France, the second round of the presidential elections was extremely tight, with 51.7% voting for Hollande and 48.3% casting their ballot for Sarkozy. The campaign was dominated by a discussion of the country’s economic woes and its immigration policies. It was the first time in 30 years that a sitting president lost a bid for reelection.
Many Franco-Israelis preferred the economic and immigration policies of Sarkozy’s UMP party, which is also seen as friendlier toward Israel.
