(Jewish Group)A far-right Jew could make political history in France. French Jews say he's dangerous
Ahead of France’s elections this spring, Eric Zemmour could become the country’s first major Jewish presidential candidate in the post-war Fifth Republic era. Recent polls have him pulling 16% of the vote, placing him on equal footing with the top challengers to President Emmanuel Macron.
But there’s a catch: The far-right journalist, public intellectual and consistent provocateur Zemmour hasn’t announced that he is officially running yet.
And most of France’s Jews want nothing to do with him, for various reasons.
“He is a far-right politician, and as such a danger to the republic. He may be Jewish, but he is not the voice of the Jewish community,” Joel Mergui, president of the Consistoire, a centrist French-Jewish organization, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Zemmour, 63, has cultivated a strong conservative following through a staunch nationalist and anti-immigrant philosophy that describes French society as under siege from Muslim and other foreign influence. Some of his language has even led to hate speech convictions and fines — in 2011, he called Muslim immigrants “invaders” and in 2016 said that most drug dealers are Arab or African.
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