The international conference for combating antisemitism that will be held this week in Jerusalem at the invitation of the Diaspora Ministry has already made headlines even before starting.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli's decision to include in the guests and speakers list of the conference representatives of sovereigntist right-wing parties from Europe, like the French National Rally, the Spanish Vox, the Dutch Party for Freedom, or the Swedish Democrats - all members of the group Patriots for Europe - has caused a storm of protests primarily from some leaders of Jewish communities and institutions in Europe.
Opposers to Chikli's list include President of the European Jewish Congress Dr. Ariel Muzicant, as well as center-left politicians and activists in Europe, Israel, and the US. The invitation to the conference of President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dudik's - against whom the federal government of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an arrest warrant a few days ago - reinforced critics to paint the event as a conference serving only political purposes.
The invitee who finds himself most under fire is 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, the party established in 2018 by Marine Le Pen as a successor to the National Front, founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Due to the extreme right, nationalist, and antisemitic character of the National Front under the leadership of Jean-Marie, Israeli and French Jewish communities boycotted Marine and the National Rally, despite Marine having distanced herself very clearly from her father's views.
However, the strong support for Israel expressed by National Rally leaders after the October 7 massacre and during the Israel-Hamas War encouraged the Israeli government to reconsider its boycott position.
Chikli was the first Israeli high official to meet with Marine Le Pen last July. He enraged French president Emmanuel Macron when he declared that if Le Pen was elected as president, she would be “excellent for Israel.”
Last month, Chikli met for the first time with Jordan Bardella at the CPAC conference in Washington. A few days later, Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, announced Israel's decision to establish formal ties with the National Rally party as well as with Spain´s VOX and the Swedish Democrats.
Bardella represents the new face of the National Rally. Coming from an immigrant family, he was very quickly promoted to lead the party, which stands for stopping mass immigration to France.
Bardella's mother was born in Italy, and his father is of Italian and French-Algerian origin. He was born and grew up in Drancy, not far from Paris, a small town historically known as the site of an internment and transit camp run by Germans and French during WWII, where many Parisian Jews were sent to death camps in Poland.
Bardella joined the National Front when he was 16 and became chairman of the youth wing of the National Rally at the age of 22. A year later he headed the party's list in the elections for the European Parliament and won.
That same year he was nominated as one of the vice chairpersons of the National Rally, and three years later, in 2022, after Marine Le Pen had stepped down as the party's leader, Bardella was elected to replace her.
First invitation of National Rally leader to Israel
In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, Jordan Bardella calls his visit to Israel historic. “It's my first visit to Israel as a private person, and it's the first time that a leader of the National Rally party is officially invited to Israel,” says the leader of France's main opposition party and the parliament's largest party, following the last elections in the summer of 2024.
"In that sense, it's a historical event that shows the important position of the National Rally in the French and international political arena.
"Our vocation is to speak to all the nations that combat Islamist terrorism, which is the greatest existential threat to our democracy. The message that I wish to convey in my visit to Israel is that France stands with Israel in this war against Islamist terrorism.”
"I believe that the ties between our countries are extremely strong, our relationship is unique, and I hope it will continue to be so,” stresses Bardella.
“In the current political period, we - the National Rally - are considered a political movement which is already preparing for the post-Macron era and which has the potential of finding itself in the coming months in the position of leading France."
Bardella continues, "It is an honor to be officially invited by the government of the State of Israel to express myself in this significant event dedicated to a subject that is very meaningful for European societies, even more so after October 7."
Bardella describes his visit to Israel and Jerusalem as "my and our total engagement in the fight against antisemitism."
He adds that the message he has "been carrying and spreading for several years in France, in a more significant way since October 7, is that antisemitism is a poison that must not be dealt with [with] any complacency, in France or in any other part of the world."
Since October 7, Bardella shares that France is facing a resurgence of “ambient antisemitism."
"It is a fact. This resurgence comes from two phenomenona which I fight: the Islamist fundamentalism and its best ally today, the French radical Left.
"On one hand, Islamism bears in itself the hatred of Jews. This hatred is one of its raisons d'etre. On the other hand, the radical Left has replaced the tricolor national flag with the Palestinian flag”.
Boycott of international conference
Q: As you know, several personalities who were invited to participate in this international conference have decided to boycott it as a reaction to your participation and that of other European politicians considered as coming from “extreme right” parties. What is your reaction to that?
A: I don't like sectarianism. I think that the fight against antisemitism is not only an important cause for France. It's a cause that goes past borders.
It's a plague and a poison that influences all societies, including those in most of the Western democracies.
The criticism that you are mentioning comes mainly from left-wing circles, including some French personalities, who didn't hesitate to compromise themselves by forming an alliance with the leader of the French radical left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, in the last European and legislative elections we had in France.
I didn't change my positions; they are still the same, and I will not change them. I will not be lectured by those who tolerate the wrongdoings and declarations of left-wing political movements, whose certain members - in France and in Europe - qualified Hamas as a resistance movement while accusing Israel of committing genocide.
I intend to express myself at the conference with my sincerity and conviction. I would like to mention that by many French Jewish citizens we are seen today not only as a credible political alternative but also as a shield against those who threaten the security and liberty of Jews in France and in Europe.
National Rally vs. National Front
Q: The Jewish community in France has a long history of fighting against the National Front, of which the National Rally descends, especially under the leadership of the late Jean-Marie Le Pen. Many still confuse both parties. What makes the National Rally different from the National Front?
A: The National Rally is not the National Front anymore. Certain declarations, made in the past and which belong to the past, have provoked legitimate emotions.
Marine Le Pen has always dissociated herself from these declarations. When she became leader of the party in 2011, she stressed that the German occupation and the Shoah (Holocaust) symbolized for France and for the whole of Europe the height of barbarity.
Nobody can seriously blame us for not having turned that page of our party. Now, I understand that confidence cannot be decreed. It builds itself by actions. We have behind us decades of fighting against Islamism.
I believe that our party is the only party in France that has alerted all our citizens about the rising risks of migration and Islamism and the existence in our society of elements who question our values.
I note that more and more French Jews trust us as they believe in our sincerity. Some known personalities, such as Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, admitted in recent months that in front of the mounting Islamist threat and the left-wing antisemitism, the National Rally is seen today as a serious party, defending the republican values of France.
We continue to demonstrate by our actions, convictions, and sincerity that we stand by all French citizens, whatever their religion is. I would like to stress the extremely friendly and warm welcome that we received from French Jews when we participated in the march against antisemitism organized in France on November 12, 2023, a few weeks after the atrocious attacks of October 7.
This showed that our sincerity has gained us credibility to carry this cause and lead this fight in France and in Europe.
Fight against Islamists
Q: Do you see parallel lines between the fight against Islamism that you are leading in France and the existential war that Israel is leading against the Islamists in the Middle East?
A: Yes, it's the same fight. On October 7, Israel experienced on the same day its September 11 and its Bataclan (an Islamist terrorist attack on a Parisian concert venue, which was carried out in November 2015).
For 15 years now, France has faced terrorist attacks on an unprecedented scale, some of which intentionally targeted our Jewish citizens - such as the attack on the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse in 2012 or the attack on the Hypercacher supermarket in Paris in January 2015.
All the Western nations and many democracies worldwide today, confront an Islamism that not only wants to live separated from society or create factions in ours, but wishes to conquer our entire society. It also wants to impose on us all its prohibitions and its extremely obscurantist vision of life and of relations between men and women.
'Guarantee for freedom of religion'
Q: One of the main criticisms of the French Jewish community against the National Rally is connected to the fear that the republican and secular vision of the party will lead to abolishing the right of the Jews to freely exercise their religious traditions. Is there such a risk?
A: No. This risk does not exist. I consider that today we are the last political movement that defends the identity of France and the republican values, which were betrayed by a big part of the French Left governments and part of the French Right governments.
The spirit, the laws, and principles of secularity that are so important for France serve as a guarantee for the freedom of religion to all religions, including, of course, Judaism.
I would add that the National Rally offers a supplementary guarantee for the security of French Jews by the fact that it serves as a shield against insecurity and the extreme violence, which becomes more and more gangrenous within French society.
Conflicting views on France's role in the Holocaust
Q: Another point that troubles the Jewish community relates to the conflicting views regarding France's responsibility in the Holocaust. While all presidents, such as Jacques Chirac, acknowledged their responsibility in the name of the French state, other voices on the political right side still insist that one should differentiate between the collaborating Vichy regime and the French state. What is your position on this issue?
A: There is no debate about the facts. The regime existing after the defeat, the Regime of Vichy - first in what was called the “free zone” and starting in 1942 under total German occupation - collaborated with the German occupiers.
I would even say that the Vichy regime participated actively in what happened. Its actions and decisions are a very dark stain in the history of France and in our common history.
I also think that the honor and the dignity of France did not reside in Vichy, which incarnated betrayal. In my view, the honor and dignity of France were in London with General [Charles] de Gaulle and his free forces and with the resistance, which fought to save our honor, dignity, values, and ideals.
'Arab Policy'
Q: France was a great supporter of Israel in the '50s and '60s. It had contributed a lot to the creation and consolidation of the State of Israel. Then, after the Six Day War, France turned to a political tradition named the “Arab Policy” at the expense of the previously good relations with Israel. Seen from today, do you think that this “Arab Policy” was a disadvantage for the interests of France?
A: I wouldn't oppose these two policies, and I think that the tradition of the “Arab Policy” is still alive today in the historical relations between France and Lebanon or the growing ties with Egypt, which is an essential partner for France on the regional arena.
France is a Mediterranean power. I profoundly believe that France must have relations with all the countries of the Mediterranean zone. As a geographer, I would say that both geography and history impose that on us.
However, it is certain that this “Arab Policy” was damaged by absurd decisions, the most recent one being the haste with which our foreign minister went to meet the new masters of Syria, Al-Julani [Ahmed al-Sharaa], and his men, who are the heirs of al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Our only strategy in the Near and Middle East is that of peace and stability. I follow this philosophy as an expression of loyalty to the traditional French doctrine. It was and is difficult to reach this peace and stability.
These are very demanding goals. But they are not impossible to obtain. I profoundly wish that France will renew its historical vocation to be a free, independent, non-aligned, and balancing power that would be able to talk with all the powers in the Mediterranean zone but at the same time will be able to acknowledge that the existential threat that menaces the French today is the Islamist fundamentalism.
As a consequence, we should develop privileged partnerships with all the countries that fight the Islamist ideology, including Israel, of course.
France support for the Palestinian cause
Q: Has the decades-long automatic support of France for the Palestinian cause helped advance a possible peace process in the Middle East or blocked such a process?
A: There was in France an intellectual and political movement, which was very influenced by Marxism and systematically applied a very simplistic reading of the situation, which consisted of considering the Palestinians as victims and the Israelis as the guilty party.
This is the way of thinking that has contaminated the spirit of big parts of the French intelligentsia during the second half of the 20th century and still stirs the debate on this subject.
I consider that this way of reasoning does not correspond with reality. As you know, the French historical position is in favor of a balanced solution - that of two states.
I think that the goal of a Palestinian state should remain, but today this goal became totally impossible due to the sheer existence of Hamas, whose DNA and reason for existence are the destruction of the State of Israel.
I said it publicly in France, and I repeat it [now]: to recognize a Palestinian state now would mean legitimizing Hamas and, in reality, recognizing a terrorist state.
Q: Then what should be the conditions for the creation of a Palestinian state in the future?
A: First of all, reducing Hamas to a state of powerlessness. This is absolutely necessary and essential. I heard a few days ago the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, stating that Hamas in the Gaza Strip should be demilitarized.
In France, we say that politics and diplomacy are the art of making possible what’s necessary. As we speak now, peace looks like a very far away option. That doesn't mean that we should act as if it were impossible.
However, there are two preconditions for it: the first one is the demilitarization of Hamas, and the second is the immediate release of the hostages. One has to keep on repeating that nothing will be possible without applying these two basic demands.
Trump's Gaza relocation plan
Q: What do you think about President Donald Trump's initiative to evacuate parts of the population in Gaza to other countries?
A: President Trump merits to propose a plan to end the crisis with the perspective of an economic development of the Gaza Strip. However, as we speak, it seems to me quite utopian.
I think that it is difficult to accept the idea of moving some hundreds of thousands of persons out of Gaza. The long-term objective should be peace and the reconstruction of this territory on healthy foundations.
Q: When the National Rally party is in power, would it recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?
A: Jerusalem is three times holy. Only a general solution to the conflict will allow a discussion on the status of Jerusalem. It should be negotiated in the framework of a global agreement.
So, I would say that right now we do not have the intention to support such a recognition as the status of Jerusalem was not definite yet. Until the ultimate negotiations will take place, and obviously one has to work so that they take place, we intend to keep the French embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv.