Following the results from the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday, Jewish French leaders called on the community to vote for centrist incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and block a victory by far-right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen.
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Le Pen garnered 23.6% of the votes, a close second to Macron, who captured 28.5%.
Elie Korchia, head of the Israelite Central Consistory of France, said that while Macron's results were "reassuring," the far-Right "is on the verge of reaching power. Marine Le Pen is in a better position than when she confronted Macron in 2017," the Haaretz reported.
Francis Kalifat, head of the Jewish umbrella group Crif, described the race in even dimmer light.
"Roughly 50% of the people voted for an extremist party, either from the far-right or the far-left," he said. "There is absolutely no guarantee Macron will win in the runoff" set for April 24. "France's future is at stake, so we are calling [on people] to vote for Emmanuel Macron."
Several candidates who were eliminated on Sunday subsequently called on their supporters to back Macron in a strategy dubbed "Republican Front," according to Haaretz.
Samuel Lejoyeux, head of the Jewish student movement UEJF, accused Le Pen of having an "extremist agenda," wanting to ban kippas and "kosher meat, both slaughtered in France but also imports."
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