Jordan Bardella, the president of the far -right French party Rally National Rally, began an unprecedented visit to Israel on Wednesday, March 26, March 26, in order to attend a conference on the fight against anti -Semitism at the invitation of the Israeli government.
Accompanied by the Israeli Minister of the diaspora, Amichai Chikli, as well as by the former French deputy LR Meyer Habib, Jordan Bardella went to the site of the Massacre of the Nova Festival, where more than 370 people were killed on October 7, 2023 during the attack on Hamas in the Israeli south. He must speak during a big conference on anti -Semitism which is held Thursday in Jerusalem, an invitation which aroused turmoil in both Israel and abroad.
Several withdrawals
Among the reactions, the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, principal speaker of the event, canceled his arrival. Just like, according to the English -speaking Israeli daily Jerusalem Post, The Grand Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Ephraim Mirvis. According to the Times of IsraelLord John Mann, British government advisor in anti -Semitism, and David Hirsh, activist against anti -Semitic boycotts, also withdrawn, as well as two German politicians.
In Israel, the deputy of the Knesset Gilad Kariv asked the Minister of the Diaspora on Monday to cancel – without success – the invitations addressed to far -right leaders, “in direct contradiction with the positions and policies of organizations representative of the Jewish communities in these countries and on the international scene”, according to remarks reported by the Times of Israel.
The RN remains in fact associated with the anti-Semitic remarks of its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, condemned several times and died in January 2025, despite his dedication efforts, notably towards the Jewish community. The FN, ancestor of the national rally, also, as Franceinfo recalls, counted in its ranks of former soldiers of the Third Reich.
The president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Yonathan Arfi, denounced Jordan Bardella’s invitation on RMC on Monday, accusing the RN of instrumentalizing anti -Semitism for political purposes.
The Minister of the Diaspora forced to justify himself
“Jordan Bardella is not a far -right man, but an extreme friend of Israel,” replied the conference organizers, including the Diaspora Ministry in a statement. The latter also tweeted that Jordan Bardella was “one of the most pro-Israeli voices in Europe”. “Unlike the choir of European left parties, he firmly opposed the recognition of a Palestinian state at present, arguing that this would reward terrorism,” he wrote.
As the newspaper points out The crossother far -right personalities have also been invited for this conference, including Hermann Tertsch, Spanish European deputy, son of a Nazi diplomat, Ekkehard Tentsch.