[Peptobismol]

PARIS (EJP)---Francois Hollande, who won the Socialist party’s primaries on Sunday, will be the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election in France.

A little known politician outside France, 57-year-old Hollande will have the task to challenge Sarkozy – who has till to declare his candidacy - and extreme-right Marine Le Pen in the presidential poll in May 2011.

Opinion polls suggest he could beat Sarkozy....

For the 600,000 French Jews, beside French interior politics, the candidates position towards the Jews and Israel is of utmost importance.

Hollande is generally regarded as pro-Israel despite the fact that the Socialist Party has been often criticized for its pro-Palestinian positions. Aubry, to the contrary, made several controversial pro-Palestinian statements that were received with concern by the French Jews.

The CRIF, the umbrella representative group of French Jewish organizations, congratulated Hollande for his election and praised his previous commitments towards Judaism and his empathy for Israel.

“We hope that he will express these positions during the election campaign,” Richard Prasquier, president of CRIF, told EJP.

“He knows Israel and is among those in the Socialist Party who has an old sympathy towards Israel,” he added...

The election of Hollande comes as Jews are expressing growing concern about the apparent evolution of President Sarkozy’s position on Israel that reflects a return to France’s “traditional” pro-Arab policy.

While several European leaders have rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s unilateral request to the UN to recognize a Palestinian state, Sarkozy, in his address to the UN General Assembly, advocated to grant the Palestinians an upgraded ‘observer state’ status.

And more recently, he was quoted in the French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine as saying that “it is silly to talk about a Jewish state”, in a reference to Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state in any peace agreement. He added, "it would be like saying that this table is Catholic. There are two million Arabs in Israel."

Sarkozy, who has always described himself as a true friend of Israel, was also quoted as calling Mahmoud Abbas “a statesman” while “Netanyahu, on the other hand, never fails to disappoint us.”... source: http://www.ejpress.org/article/53921

[softy54534]

Congratulations to President Hollande.

PARIS - Socialist Francois Hollande swept to victory in France's presidential election on Sunday in a swing to the left at the heart of Europe that could start a pushback against German-led austerity.

Hollande was set to beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by a decisive 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent margin, the TNS-Sofres polling agency said in a projection based on a partial vote count.

The president conceded defeat within 20 minutes of the last polls closing at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), telling supporters he had telephoned Hollande to wish him good luck.

"I bear the full responsibility for this defeat," he said... source: http://www.jpost.com/International/A...aspx?id=268920

[HedgeYourBets]

Not in on French politics too much. Is this a good thing? Seriously, I am not asking this cynically. I REALLY do not know either way....

[brraverishhh]

Not in on French politics too much. Is this a good thing? Seriously, I am not asking this cynically. I REALLY do not know either way....

Hollande is regarded as pro-Israel. The CRIF (the umbrella representative group of French Jewish organizations) believes he will be an improvement over Sarkozy.

[PhillipHer]

It can certainly not hurt to have someone who is pro-Israel. How is he for the French? On facebook, I see a lot of comments on how France will now be a socialist country and headed down the same financial hell that Greece is in? Any French posters (or non-French who are somewhat familiar with French politics) here who can chime in?

[Ifroham4]

Surely will be interesting how this plays out.

[LottiFurmann]

Vive Hollande!

“The chief of state expressed his desire that France and Israel work to deepen our bilateral relations and develop existing French-Israel ties in all areas,” said a statement from the Elysee, the presidential office, issued Wednesday after Hollande met with Yaakov Amidror, the national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. source: http://forward.com/articles/157583/h...ies-to-israel/

[Big A]

Hollande is regarded as pro-Israel. The CRIF (the umbrella representative group of French Jewish organizations) believes he will be an improvement over Sarkozy.

As of now, of the ten French Muslims who attacked and severely injured three Jews in Villeurbanne, only three of the Muslims are in custody more than a week after the attack. If Hollande actually took the situation seriously, all the attackers would be in jail now. I don't think Hollande is an improvement over Sarkozy unfortunately.