Eldad Beck, Israel Hayom correspondent to Europe, explains the implications of the recent elections in France, where polls show incumbent Emmanuel Macron enjoying a wide lead over his nearest challenger, Marine Le Pen.
“Macron smashed the left wing parties years ago, and now is breaking up the right wing parties as well. He leads a political block that combines left and right,” Beck says.
Marine Le Pen, he adds, has her own appeal to the public: “There are a lot of people who are feeling anti-Macron right now. They might not vote for Le Pen, but at least they won’t back Macron.”
Beck shows that Jewish communities, and Israel as a whole, have what to gain from the shift in France’s political playing field: “There is a huge gap between the official position of the French Jewish community and what the simple members of the community believe. While the official position still speaks to older values that see the extreme right as an enemy, more and more people are starting to believe that the extreme right could be a partner to the Jewish community.”
Despite some gaps in ideologies, Beck believes that he has the answer for the Jewish community: “of course, there are some problems, such as the issue of Kashrut, I believe that if there could be a dialogue with those parties, a solution could very quickly be found.”
Regarding Israel’s stance, Beck advises caution. “Being Jewish means there’s always something to be worried about, but we must stop behaving like Jews in the ghetto and start being far more sovereign about foreign policy, particularly what serves Israel’s interests.”