Likud minister defends French far-right leader amid allegations of past antisemitism

An Israeli minister came out in defense of French far-right politician Jordan Bardella on Tuesday, after an investigative website alleged that he had made antisemitic comments in 2013.

Bardella, 31, is the de facto number two to the National Rally’s (RN) Marine Le Pen, and is tipped to become prime minister if she is elected France’s president next April.

He has rejected the allegations, which were published by the website Mediapart.

0:00 / 0:00

Promoted: Theatron Hotel and Residences

Bardella “is one of the clearest voices in Europe against Hamas,” Amichai Chikli, minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, wrote on X.

“He visited the Nova site and the communities of the Gaza envelope,” he added, referring to the location of a music festival and other areas in southern Israel that were ravaged by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the Gaza war.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories

By signing up, you agree to the terms

“He met survivors. He spoke in Jerusalem against antisemitism.”

The minister also posted an image of himself shaking Bardella’s hand at the site of the Nova music festival massacre.

According to Mediapart, Bardella wrote in a private chat in 2013, when he was 17 or 18, that Jews and Zionists have to “dominate other peoples, crush them, and rob them,” and that Israel is bent on creating a “new world order.”

In his defense of Bardella, Chikli attacked Mediapart, claiming that its co-founder Edwy Plenel supported Palestinian terrorists and “stood with the men who murdered eleven Israeli athletes in Munich” at the 1972 Olympics.

Chikli, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, also lashed out at current Mediapart president Carine Fouteau, claiming she “calls Israel a colonial state and wants sanctions for genocide.”

Bardella is a savvy user of social media who projects a clean-cut image, and has been a key player in Le Pen’s project of “de-demonization” to make the RN into an electable force.

Both have moved to rid the party of the legacy of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded and led what was then the National Front and repeatedly made antisemitic remarks.

Bardella made an unprecedented visit to Israel in 2025, the first by a French far-right leader, in a bid to demonstrate the RN’s new credentials.

The visit was at the invitation of Chikli, who in recent years has cultivated ties with figures and parties from the European far right and hosted them in Israel, marking a shift away from Israel’s traditional boycott of parties with suspected extremist and antisemitic views.

The allegations against Bardella emerged as Le Pen’s prospects for the 2027 elections appear stronger than at any point in her previous campaigns.

Bardella accused what he called an “activist media” of conducting a smear campaign “to destabilize the presidential campaign and attack my honor.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Help us report truthfully on social media

As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.

This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. 

If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.

— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist

Support our work Support our work Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this