Pro-Israeli French MP with ties to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party loses reelection bid as far-left dominates second round of voting.
By World Israel News Staff
A French-Jewish member of parliament closely allied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party has been voted out of office, despite direct support from Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
On Sunday, MP Meyer Habib lost the second round of voting in the general election to Caroline Yadan, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party.
While Habib, running on the center-right Gaullist The Republicans ticket led Yadan in the first round of voting, 35.6% to 24.2%, he was narrowly defeated in Sunday’s runoff vote, 47.3% to 52.7%.
Since 2013, Habib had represented the Eighth constituency for French residents overseas in the National Assembly of France – a seat which represents tens of thousands of French Jews living in Israel.
A number of senior Israeli leaders publicly endorsed Habib’s campaign, and even filmed election advertisements on behalf of the Habib campaign.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana – all members of the ruling Likud party – appeared in campaign ads for Habib’s reelection bid.
Habib, Netanyahu said in a campaign video last month, “is doing something very important, not only for the Jewish people, but for humanity versus barbarism.”
In 2016, reports in Israel and France alleged that Habib had funneled money from French businessmen, including Arnaud Mimran, to Netanyahu for election campaigns and family trips abroad.
Two years later, Habib received death threats an an envelope containing a white powder.
The letter included antisemitic slurs and was stenciled on a piece of paper supposedly taken from Habib’s office. The letter was also full of spelling mistakes and written in poor French.
“You aren’t French; you don’t belong in the National Assembly. You are only a f***ing Israeli terrorist with blood on your hands.”