Macron campaign office vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti

A campaign office of the front runner in the French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron, was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.

The Normandy campaign office was vandalized on Friday night, the L’eveil Normand newspaper reported. Macron is not Jewish; he is however, considered a supporter of Israel.

The attack came less than two days before the opening of the polls Sunday morning in the runoff election between Macron and Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the far-right National Front party.

Among the epithets written in red marker on the entrance to the campaign office were “Israel=Mossad de Rothschild,” referring to the wealthy Jewish family as well as Macron’s work as an investment banker at the French Banque Rotschild; ”Sioniste,” French for Zionist; and “the 20 most shocking extracts of the Talmud.”

It is not the first anti-Semitic attack on Macron during the campaign.

Also Friday, Macron said he would not unilaterally recognize the state of Palestine if he is elected on Sunday.

In a French television interview, centrist Macron, who is some 24% ahead of rival Le Pen, said he backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that unilaterally recognizing Palestine would cause instability and would harm France’s relations with Israel.

He recalled that he when visited Israel — as economy minister in 2015 — “I defended the principle of a two-state solution, and France’s commitment to that.” He also recalled that he criticized the Israeli settlement enterprise. “Those are my consistent positions,” he said.

Le Pen has vowed to ban the wearing both of Muslim garb and Jewish symbols in public if elected. She has distanced herself from the anti-Semitic rhetoric of her father, though she said last month France was “not responsible” for the rounding up of Jews by French officers during the Nazi occupation.