At the ballot box, French Jewish voters say no good candidate for Jews, Israel

As France votes in its first-round of a tense presidential election, Jews are concerned about their future leader’s position toward Israel and Jews as they cast ballots for one of the closest presidential elections in years.

“None of them is good for Jews and for relations between Israel and France. Because, I deeply think the candidates don’t care about Israel. They just care about the votes they can gain from the Jewish voters,” 20-year-old Cindy tells The Times of Israel.

While Cindy says she won’t leave France if Le Pen wins, “it will be very difficult for me to live in a country led by a far-right president.”

“There is not even one, there is no good candidate for the Jews. The worst would be Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Mélenchon,” says 32-year-old Jonathan, a dual French-Israeli citizen who lives in Paris.

“If Marine Le Pen or Mélenchon is elected, I’ll pack my bags in the next six months and move to Israel,” he tells The Times of Israel.

Thirty-year-old Leslie tells The Times of Israel she supports François Fillon, but still thinks “the best candidate for the French-Israeli relationship is Macron, I think because he has already shown interest in Israel during his multiple visits.”

Roger, 55, says he fully supports Fillon. Asked if he would leave the country if Fillon loses, the businessman says “no, because the mandate only lasts 5 years so they don’t have enough power to change everything.”

— Stephanie Bitan