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French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour in Paris on February 21, 2022. Chesnot/Getty Images.
Observation

April 7, 2022

Eric Zemmour Has a Vision for French Jews. Will They Follow It?

By Angélique Talmor

The controversial French politician is an observant Jew who disdains Zionism and extols the “unequalled splendor” of France’s Catholic heritage. What's he up to?

Virtually no other Jew in the history of the France—at the very least in the last 60 years—has come as close to the country’s presidency as Eric Zemmour. Despite a complete lack of political experience, the right-wing journalist, author, and television personality has consistently placed among the top five candidates for next week’s election. And while he is unlikely to win, his outrageous public persona and his peculiar relationship with Judaism are worth closer study, reflecting as they do some of the complexities and cross-pressures of 21st-century French Jewish identity.

Only a few months ago, Zemmour was jockeying for second place with Marine Le Pen, a veteran politician who has led France’s far-right National Rally party for a decade and whose father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, led the party for nearly 40 years. Le Pen has since overtaken Zemmour in the race, but Zemmour’s early surge surprised many. Zemmour is something of an enigma: on the one hand, he publicly defends the conduct of France’s Nazi-aligned Vichy government, casts doubt on the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, disdains Zionism, and extols the “unequalled splendor” of France’s Catholic heritage. In all this, and in his stridently anti-immigrant and anti-Islam stances, he has broken with many established Jewish institutions in France. He has even been called an anti-Semite by France’s chief rabbi. On the other hand, Zemmour observes Shabbat, keeps a kosher home, frequently attends synagogue, and seems to have cultivated a vision for a particularly Francophile version of Judaism, of which he sees himself as the prime representative. Where does such a man come from, and what does he mean?

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