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<\/a><\/p>\nPresident of the Rassemblement National parliamentary group, Marine Le Pen, attends a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, in Paris on April 14, 2026. (Adnan Farzat\/NurPhoto)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The meeting, which was not publicly announced by either leader, was confirmed by the Israeli embassy to the French outlet Le Parisien. It was unclear what the pair discussed.<\/p>\n
The meeting between Zarka and Le Pen, who is the former president of France\u2019s far-right National Rally party, comes over a year since Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar announced that the country would lift its longstanding boycott of far-right parties in Sweden, France and Spain.<\/p>\n
Israel continues not to engage with far-right parties in Germany, and Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who has invited leaders of parties with a history of antisemitism to conferences he has organized in Israel, has cited the Alternative for Germany party as an example of one that had not adequately shed its antisemitic roots.<\/p>\n
National Rally was founded as the National Front in 1972 by Le Pen\u2019s father, Jean Marie le Pen, who frequently espoused racist and antisemitic rhetoric and was convicted of Holocaust denial in 1987.<\/p>\n
The party has since tried to distance itself from its antisemitic history, with its current leader, Jordan Bardella, visiting Jerusalem last March for the country\u2019s International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, where he delivered the keynote speech.<\/p>\n
Diplomatic relations between Israel and France have soured in recent years, with French President Emmanuel Macron voicing public criticism of Israel\u2019s conduct during the war in Gaza and formally recognizing Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September.<\/p>\n
Last May, Le Pen shot back at Macron after he said during a television appearance that \u201cwhat Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government is doing today is unacceptable\u201d and \u201ca disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI find this statement unworthy of the President of the French Republic,\u201d Le Pen responded. \u201cHe keeps increasing his criticism of Israel, perhaps because he is incapable of providing a solution to facilitate the fight against Islamist fundamentalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Le Pen has long voiced her support for Israel, last week she threw her support behind Macron\u2019s proposal to include Lebanon in a regional ceasefire, which Israel has previously opposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our country\u2019s duty to protect Lebanon, its people, and its sovereignty,\u201d wrote Le Pen in a post on X. \u201cThis country is once again a collateral victim of the tensions in the region, suffering massive bombings on its capital. I support France\u2019s proposal to include Lebanon in the framework of the regional ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israeli leaders have pushed back on Macron\u2019s requests and refused to allow the country to be involved in direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, which was formerly a French mandate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to keep the French as far away as possible from pretty much everything, but particularly when it comes to peace negotiations,\u201d Yechiel Leiter, Israel\u2019s ambassador to the United States, told reporters earlier this week following ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Le Pen has also been critical of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, telling Le Parisien last month that Trump \u201cclearly did not fully appreciate the impact of his intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Le Pen is currently awaiting a July court ruling that will determine whether she can run in France\u2019s presidential election next year, following her conviction last year for misusing European Parliament funds for political purposes.<\/p>\n