French Far-Right Leader Bardella Accused of Antisemitic Remarks

Jordan Bardella, president of France's National Rally party and a close ally of Marine Le Pen, is at the center of a new antisemitism scandal following a report by Mediapart. The investigative outlet claims to have reviewed private messages Bardella sent between 2013 and 2015, when he was between 17 and 19 years old. According to Mediapart, Bardella wrote in 2013 that "banks belong entirely to Jews" and that "a Zionist is necessarily a Jew, deeply and originally." The report also alleges he claimed "a Jew must dominate other peoples, oppress them and plunder them."

Mediapart states it independently verified the messages' authenticity but did not disclose how they were obtained. The outlet also reported that Bardella expressed admiration for Alain Soral, a French ideologue convicted multiple times for hate speech and Holocaust denial, and questioned the official account of the 9/11 attacks. Bardella has vehemently denied making these statements, calling them "completely delirious" and a "gross forgery" and a "dirty provocation." He announced plans to sue Mediapart for defamation, characterizing the publication as a "campaign of dirty tricks" aimed at political destabilization ahead of upcoming elections.

Bardella, 31, is considered a rising star in the French far-right. Marine Le Pen has indicated she would appoint him prime minister if she wins the 2027 presidential election, for which polls currently show her with a strong lead. The National Rally, founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen (Marine's father, a Holocaust denier), has been working to shed its antisemitic image. The party now holds the largest faction in the National Assembly and has sought to appeal to Jewish voters by positioning itself against radical Islam.

Despite the controversy, National Rally leaders publicly defended Bardella on Tuesday, September 29. Le Pen expressed "full confidence" in him, and Bardella himself declared it the start of a "total war" against their party. Notably, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli defended Bardella, calling him a staunch opponent of Hamas and highlighting his visits to southern Israel and his participation in an anti-antisemitism conference in Jerusalem. Chikli also criticized Mediapart's co-founder, accusing him of supporting the Black September organization responsible for the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.