How will the Jews vote?

French Jews traditionally back Left; will they vote for rightist Sarkozy this time?

by Sefi Hendler, ynet, 19/04/2007

PARIS - Relative to their negligent numbers in the overall population (less than one percent,) the voting patterns of French Jews spark marked interest in France.

The obsessive question of "how the Jews will vote?" was also prominent five years ago, when Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked France and went on to the second presidential election round. A well-known restaurant owner in the Jewish quarter faced the cameras of a TV station and declared that he would vote in favor of the radical right-wing candidate.

This unfortunate statement was enough to attribute Le Pen's embarrassing rise in the polls to the Jews.

It didn't make the slightest bit of difference that the Jewish community stood shoulder to shoulder at the front lines against Le Pen's "National Front." The explanations that in Jewish areas Le Pen received a significantly lower number of votes were to no avail. The statement "Jews vote Le Pen" became rooted in parts of the French political discourse.

The truth must be told: There is a minority among French Jews that does indeed vote in favor of Le Pen, despite his despicable anti-Semitic statements. For better or for worse this is probably the price of French Jewish assimilation.

Two hundred years ago, Napoleon convened the Sanhedrin and received a positive answer from the country's Jewish population, which accepted being Jewish and French simultaneously.
Since then, they have done everything in their power to remain loyal members of the Republic. Even following the Holocaust and French cooperation with the Germans, many Jews insisted on remaining in France.

'Jews are with Sarkozy' Even in recent years, despite the wave of anti-Semitism sweeping the country, the majority of French Jews remained in Paris and Marseilles. Their hearts may yearn for Israel, and some even own apartments in Tel Aviv, but the focus of 90 percent of the community was and has remained in France. As French citizens, the Jewish community shares society's problems, for better or for worse, and small parts even vote in favor of Le Pen.

So who will the Jews vote for?

The prevailing assumption in France is that the "Jews are with Sarkozy." Explanations for their support of him are varied: Because of the right-wing candidate's Jewish roots, because of his public support of Israel, and because of a lot of bad blood between parts of the Jewish community and the Left, which has turned Israel-bashing into a habit.

But this assumption must be viewed carefully. Traditionally, French Jews voted in favor of the Left. That Left did indeed prove its loyal friendship to Israel and the Jews for dozens of years. When compared to the tense relations between Jerusalem and Paris under de Gaulle, Pompidou, Giscard and Chirac (throughout the majority of his term in office,) socialist President Mitterrand was a true friend, and the one who did not hesitate to call Hizbullah a terrorist was socialist Prime Minister Jospin.

Sarkozy went a step further when he stood by Israel during the Second Lebanon War. He was also perceived as assisting in calming the flames of anti-Semitism in recent years. The gut feeling of community leaders is that Sarkozy will indeed be awarded a significant part of the Jewish vote. Despite this, many will find it difficult to place a right-wing ballot in the box. They will, despite everything, vote for the left-wing candidate Segolene Royal, or as a default, for centrist candidate Francois Bayrou.

Ultimately, the voting will be far less homogenous then currently argued. The attempt to put all the Jews in one basket is just a generalization. French Jews are much smarter.