For French Jews, The Far Left is as Bad as The Far Right

Last week, I argued that Jews in France should not trust Marine Le Pen and the National Rally.

While I am glad French voters rejected the far right in the second round of legislative elections, they did so to the benefit of the far-left New Popular Front which is every bit as anti-Semitic as the far right particularly Jea-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Unbowed - the largest party in the left-wing coalition. 

Indeed, both Le Pen and Melenchon deny France bears any responsibility for collaborating with the Nazis during the WWII much less rounding up Jews to be sent to death camps. 

While Le Pen's father dismissed the Holocaust as but "a detail" of WWII, Melenchon dismisses anti-Semitism among pro-Hamas supporters as "residual". They are but two sides of the same coin. 

While Le Pen and National Rally has a long legacy of anti-Semitism, Melenchon and the New Popular Front has given its full embrace to the Palestinians by not only refusing to condemn Hamas' October 7th attack against Israel with his top lieutenants openly praising it as a resistance movement. 

But above else, Melenchon has contempt for French Jews who he characterizes as "an arrogant minority who lectures to the rest."

President Macron's Renaissance coalition bears some responsibility for the rise of the New Popular Front and Melenchon in particular. The New Popular Front would not have won as many seats had candidates from President Macron's Renaissance not dropped out (and vice versa) thereby splitting the anti-National Rally vote.

Yet in the final analysis, it was a choice of picking one's poison. Whatever poison gets selected will result in Jews continuing to exit France which is pretty much what anti-Semites want - be they on the far-left or on the far-right.