Anti-Le Pen French rightist cozies up to Jews

PARIS — Even to his supporters, France’s center-right presidential hopeful Francois Fillon is a flawed candidate.

Dogged by corruption scandals Fillon, who represents The Republicans party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly funneling public funds illicitly to his children and wife. Fillon, a career politician and former prime minister, has denied the allegations.

Nonetheless, his supporters are willing to forgive him these problems, as they see Fillon as likelier to beat the front-runner in the race, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Additionally, many of these supporters see him as more likely to act tough on radical Islam than his left-wing rivals.

But there is an added layer of complexity for Jewish backers of Fillon: The candidate has made vaguely critical remarks about ritual slaughter and said that at some indeterminate point in history, Jews had to be forced to obey French law.

http://www.thejewishstar.com/stories...-to-jews,13335