The Israeli ambassador to France has been accused of "foreign interference" after saying he would prefer "anyone rather than Jean-Luc Melenchon" to win the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking in a television interview on Thursday, Ambassador Joshua Zarka said he would rather see any candidate elected to the Elysee Palace than Melenchon, the leader of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), a strong supporter of Palestinian rights.
Zarka also added that he met last month with Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right National Rally. His remarks triggered an immediate backlash from across the French political spectrum.
Manuel Bompard, LFI's national coordinator, described the comments as "blatant foreign interference".
"In a normal democracy, the French authorities should react and condemn this type of statement," he said.
Arnaud Le Gall, an LFI MP responsible for the party's international relations, said Zarka had breached the neutrality expected of diplomats.
"He's a diplomat stationed in France. He's supposed to maintain neutrality in the country where he's posted. So tell him to keep his mouth shut," Le Gall said.
The criticism was echoed by Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, who called the ambassador's comments "unacceptable interference".
"The French people will decide their own future," Faure said. "No one is surprised to see an envoy of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu openly admitting his ties to the French far right."
Zarka's remarks also drew criticism from the right. Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European Parliament from the Horizons party, described Zarka's comments as "clear interference in our domestic political life" and said they were "totally inappropriate" for a foreign ambassador.
During the interview, Zarka acknowledged that Israeli officials had previously avoided formal contact with leaders of Le Pen's party, but argued that the movement had changed.
"The National Front had a clear antisemitic tendency," he said, referring to the party's former name. "The National Rally has changed."