An “unacceptable” interference was committed by the Israeli Minister of the Diaspora with his statements “openly and blatantly aimed at helping the far-right National Rally party,” Emmanuel Macron allegedly accused in a conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, a few days before the early legislative elections of July 7. According to an article in Israeli site Walla! published on Tuesday July 9, the French president is said to have deplored the support shown by Amichai Chilki, from the radical right, for Marine Le Pen during the campaign for the early legislative elections.
At the end of June, this former deputy of Likud, Netanyahu’s party, had actually relayed on X a speech by Jordan Bardella, in which the young figure of the National Rally considered a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict obsolete, reports the left-wing newspaper Haaretzbreaking “with Israel’s official boycott of the National Rally.” “It would be excellent for Israel if it [Marine Le Pen, NDLR] was president of France, absolutely,” Amichai Chilki added in a radio interview at the beginning of July, assuring that the Prime Minister shared her position.
An undisciplined far-right minister
But according to Haaretzthe minister acts independently of the government, and multiplies initiatives “to establish links with far-right parties in Europe”. Last May, he had already met Marine Le Pen in Madrid on the occasion of a convention organized by the Spanish far-right party Vox.
The whole thing constitutes a “diplomatic bombshell,” according to an official Israeli source quoted by Haaretzwhich “has damaged relations with France,” sparking anger among the country’s diplomats. Despite this outburst from the French president, and a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent further statements from his subordinate regarding France’s internal politics, Amichai Chilki is not backing down. “Macron has let down the Jewish community, I stand by what I said,” he said in a new radio interview on Monday.