France Election: Where Macron and Le Pen Stand on Israel and Iran
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Credit: Joel Saget and Eric Fefererg / AFP
France Election: Where Macron and Le Pen Stand on Israel and Iran
Haaretz – April 10th 2022
By : Elenore Weil
France’s presidential election on Sunday is giving citizens a strong sense of déjà vu: Most analysts are predicting a repeat of 2017, with incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen the likeliest candidates to advance to the second round later this month.
Aside from Macron and Le Pen, the first round also features three other candidates who are winning some support in the polls, but probably not enough to surprise the pundits and advance to the runoff (assuming no candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote in the first round).
Ahead of the elections, Haaretz asked experts in France and Israel to comment on the leading candidates’ positions regarding Israel, Iran and the Middle East. What would French policy toward the region look like under each of the candidates – from Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to the Iran nuclear deal? Here is what they had to say…
Macron: More of the same
Ties between Jerusalem and Paris have “thrived” under the current French president, says Daniel Shek, Israel’s former ambassador to Paris and ex-spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry. He mentions many collaborations in science, education, medicine and culture that have expanded since Macron took power in 2017. The president, he notes, has also expressed admiration for Israel as the “startup nation.”
On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, France and Israel continue to disagree: Macron, like all French presidents in recent decades, supports a two-state solution and opposes Israeli settlements. But at the same time, Shek says, the French president spoke out earlier this year against Amnesty International’s report labeling Israel an “apartheid state.”
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