PARIS: Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, is to make an unprecedented visit to Israel later this month to attend a conference on fighting anti-Semitism, a party source said on Wednesday.
Also attending will be Bardella’s fellow European Parliament MP Marion Marechal, the niece of Marine Le Pen, who leads a separate far-right movement, she told AFP.
They are both expected on March 26 and 27 in Jerusalem on invitation of the Israeli government to address the conference.
“Jordan Bardella will deliver a speech on the rise of anti-Semitism in France since October 7,” a source close to Bardella told AFP, confirming a report in newspaper Le Figaro.
Since the attack led by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, the RN has sought to present itself as a bulwark against anti-Semitism.
The party was co-founded as the National Front (FN) by Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died earlier this year and was known for his anti-Semitic remarks.
Marine Le Pen has moved emphatically to distance the movement from her father’s legacy, renaming the party the RN and seeking to make it electable.
Marine Le Pen now leads the RN MPs in the French parliament and is eager to stand again in 2027 presidential elections.
Jean-Marie Le Pen declared in 1987 that the Nazi gas chambers used to exterminate Jews are “just a detail in the history of World War II.”
In an invitation letter, the Israeli government said that “this major conference will bring together political leaders, international organizations, special envoys, and prominent figures from around the world to discuss and address the global threat of modern anti-Semitism.”
Israel is also planning “special visits” for the two MEPs, “to Israel’s southern and northern borders to better understand the geopolitical landscape.”
This is the first time that figures from the French far right have been invited to this type of conference.
In November 2023, President Emmanuel Macron attacked the RN, without naming it, accusing the movement of “claiming to support our compatriots of Jewish faith by confusing the rejection of Muslims with support for Jews.”
French far-right leader to make unprecedented Israel visit
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French far-right leader to make unprecedented Israel visit
- Also attending will be Bardella’s fellow European Parliament MP Marion Marechal
- “Jordan Bardella will deliver a speech on the rise of anti-Semitism in France since October 7,” a source said
Mexico’s Sheinbaum to hold a support rally following major protests
- Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny
MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has organized a large rally in the country’s capital on Saturday to shore up her support following a month of political pushback and major protests.
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
