‘Caught between plague and cholera’: French Jews wary as extremes set to win votes
Snap election called by Macron sees center lag as far-right, left parties tainted by antisemitism expect parliament gains, amid soaring Jew-hatred post-Oct. 7
PARIS, France (Reuters) — As French Jews, Maury and Alain Fischler feel trapped between equally unpalatable extremes as France rushes into a snap election with the far right ahead in the polls, followed by a left-wing bloc that the Fischlers say harbors antisemites.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the parliamentary election on June 9 after his centrist Together alliance was trounced in European elections by the anti-immigrant National Rally (RN), which is now the frontrunner to form France’s next government.
This is profoundly worrying for the Fischlers, who detest far-right ideology and see the RN’s transition from a party that once flirted openly with antisemitism into one that denounces it as a cynical ploy to create a veneer of respectability.
“Just because they’ve painted the door glossy and produced 10 good-looking people with impeccable rhetoric, that doesn’t mean we should believe them,” said Alain Fischler, 61, a furniture designer, speaking in the couple’s apartment in Paris.
RN leader Marine Le Pen has worked hard to detoxify the party’s brand since taking the reins from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party founder, who was convicted of inciting racial hatred for saying the gas chambers used to kill Jews in the Holocaust were “a detail” of World War II.
She joined protesters marching through Paris in November to denounce a surge in antisemitic incidents after October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take over 250 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
The RN has adopted a strongly pro-Israel stance.
Marine Le Pen’s efforts have won over some French Jews, including prominent lawyer and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, 88, who said on June 15 that in a run-off between the RN and the left, he would vote for the RN, which he described as “pro-Jewish.”
But for others, including Fischler — the son of a Holocaust survivor — this doesn’t wash. He accused the RN of courting Jews as cover for stigmatizing Muslims.
‘Antisemitism is not residual’
Just as frightening to the Fischlers is the New Popular Front, a leftist coalition hastily assembled to counter the far-right surge and currently in second place in the polls, ahead of Macron’s centrist camp.
The group includes La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), a hard-left party led by Jean-Luc Melenchon. Opponents say LFI has repeatedly crossed the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism, which the party denies.
“I feel like I’m caught between plague and cholera,” said Maury Fischler, 61, an optician, using a colloquial expression to describe a choice between equally unpleasant alternatives.
Gaza was already a contentious issue in France — home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities — before the unexpected election exacerbated political tensions.
Antisemitic incidents ranging from insults to vandalism and physical assaults rose by 300% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period last year, according to figures released by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who is Jewish. The number of anti-Muslim incidents has also risen, though less steeply.
Melenchon, LFI’s leader, said earlier this month that antisemitism was “residual” in France, one of a long list of comments by him and others in his party that critics say have stoked and normalized anti-Jewish hatred.
After a group of teens was accused of gang-raping a 12-year-old Jewish girl while hurling antisemitic slurs at her earlier this month, protesters in Paris held placards with slogans like “Antisemitism is not residual” and “Have you gotten used to antisemitism? We haven’t.”
Protester Sidney Azoulay, himself a Jew, described the political stances of some parties as akin to “the pyromaniac-turned-firefighter.”
“It’s a shame that in the 21st century, French Jews are still making headlines for reasons like this,” Azoulay said.
Melenchon, who denies being antisemitic, condemned the rape, as did politicians from across the spectrum, including the RN.
Taking part in a protest after the incident, Yonathan Arfi, head of the CRIF umbrella organization of French Jewish groups, called on voters to rally around the values of the French Republic and reject both extremes.
“Our responsibility for now is to ensure that neither France Unbowed nor the National Rally come to power,” he said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
