The RN has “moults”. He “supports the Jews and the State of Israel”, contrary to “to an extreme left which is under the influence of La France insoumise with anti-Semitic overtones and violent anti-Zionism”. It was the historian and lawyer Serge Klarsfeld, a great defender of the cause of Jewish deportees from France, who spoke like this on Saturday evening on LCI. And to continue: in the event of a duel with the left during the legislative elections, “I will vote for the National Rally because […] the axis of my life is the defense of Jewish memory, the defense of persecuted Jews, the defense of Israel”. For the man who, with his wife, were nicknamed “the Nazi hunters”, the extreme right is no longer uncontactable, whether in France or in Western Europe: its parties “denied anti-Semitism and supported Jews”, said Serge Klarsfeld. At the end of May, he also declared that the RN was “gradually entered the circle of republican parties”, even if he assured that he would not vote for him in the European elections. “Europe is a second homeland”, underlined Serge Klarsfeld, who also conceded that Marine Le Pen still had to give pledges.
According to the historian, one of the “victories” of the fight against anti-Semitism has been “to see that a certain number of parties considered to be far-right in Europe have moved to the other side, to the side of support for the Jewish cause.” “We are betting that it is sincere,” then said the former Nazi hunter. “We still set conditions for Marine Le Pen to recognize the Gayssot law [de 1990, réprimant le négationnisme, ndlr] and Jacques Chirac’s speech” on the responsibility of the French state in the deportation of Jews, he then declared, hoping for a gesture “next”.
Manuel Bompard “shocked”
This position is not really a surprise given the evolution of the couple in recent years. It was in 2022 that the Klarsfeld couple’s story with the RN took a surprising turn, when they interfered in the race for the presidency of Marine Le Pen’s party. For many, they had crossed the Rubicon by agreeing to be decorated by Louis Aliot, RN mayor of Perpignan then competing with Jordan Bardella for the presidency of the movement. This was implicitly a support for Aliot and his opening line on the recognition of the responsibility of the French state in the extermination of French Jews during the Second World War, notably during the Vél d’Hiv roundup. Near Release, Serge Klarsfeld thus justified his presence in Perpignan: “I observed that there is still an evolution: Marine Le Pen took a position last year and this year again on the Vél d’Hiv. I said publicly that it was “a step forward”. From the Jewish point of view, we can recognize it.
Serge Klarsfeld’s comments sparked contrasting reactions in the political class this Sunday. Marine Le Pen of course appreciated it, and made it known on X: “The tribute to the French people of this great conscience and guardian of the memory of the Shoah that is Serge Klarsfeld, reminds us that even if the path of our electoral choices may (sic) diverge, there is a moment when we must find again to refuse this terrible danger carried today by a left which, abandoning its soul and its dignity, compromises itself with extremism”, she said. For Eric Ciotti, president of LR in favor of an alliance with the RN, “Serge Klarsfeld has the right enemy!” “The real danger for France is the alliance of the extreme left. The only solution to escape it is the alliance of the rights”he approved on the same network.
Conversely, Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise (LFI), said he “shocked” on BFM TV. He judges that Serge Klarsfeld “is mistaken” : “It says something about the way we were vilified during the European election campaign. Our fight against anti-Semitism, against racism, against Islamophobia is at the heart of our commitments.”
“Good people”
In May, the Klarsfeld couple were decorated by Emmanuel Macron with the Grand Cross and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. The ceremony was organized in Berlin, the same city where, in 1968, Beate Klarsfeld slapped Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The Klarsfelds then gave an interview to AFP. They estimated their “essential fight over” – flush out Nazi officials and bring them to justice, like Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in Lyon – and said to themselves “concerned” by anti-Semitism, exacerbated by the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7 and the IDF response in Gaza.
In this final battle, Marine Le Pen’s party, which they still vilified in 2017, is now in their eyes. “We were relieved, I wouldn’t say happy, but relieved to hear the leader of the National Rally condemn Pétain, condemn Laval, condemn the Vél d’Hiv roundup and take sides with Israelwelcomed Serge Klarsfeld. We recognize this and we consider that this party has gradually entered the circle of republican parties. It is a popular party, populist they say. They are brave people and the brave people during the war were those who helped the Jews in France.”
