Sarkozy in the Jewish Press

Sarkozy in the Jewish Press
a collection of articles

"I am a friend of Israel, and Israel can always count on my friendship."
"The Jewish origins of the next Catholic French president have provoked large hopes in Jerusalem"

"[Israeli paper] Maariv hailed 'the French revolution which brings
a clear friend of Israel to the Elysée Palace...' "

"Nicolas Sarkozy is by far the most pro-Israeli French presidential figure Israel could have hoped for"

"...seen by Jewish voters as a friend to Israel"

"...a great advantage for Israel"

"As a Minister of Interior, Sarkozy shared much common policy
ground with former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu."

It is a great triumph for Israel and World Jewry to have installed - in the person of Nicolas Sarkozy - a total agent of the Zionist agenda, as the President of the French Republic.

Sarkozy has immediately proven his loyalty to this agenda by naming the Jew Bernard Kouchner as France´s Foreign Minister and taking a aggressive stance against Israel´s arch enemy Iran.

We will here reproduce some articles from the Jewish Press on Sarkozy, his connection to Jewry and the Jewish state of Israel.

The following AFP article was reproduced by the European Jewish Press, underlines addes by Radio Islam for the sake of emphasis:

"Goodbye Gaullism, France's Jews have put Sarkozy in power".

07/May/2007

PARIS (AFP)---While Nicolas Sarkozy’s win in France’s presidential election was broadly welcomed in the Western press on Monday, some Arab media expressed hostility to the new leader.

"The little Bush, president of France", commented the Algerian newspaper Ech-chourouk on its front page.

The paper added: "Good bye Gaullism, France’s Jews have put Sarkozy in power.”

Old enmities in France’s former colonial possessions also surfaced with some editorials in Algeria highlighting his Jewish background and apparent lack of willingness to recognise France’s colonial "crimes".

Sarkozy was brought up by his Jewish grandmother after his parents divorced. However, that link was played up by the Israeli press.

“The Jewish origins of the next Catholic French president have provoked large hopes in Jerusalem," said a front-page headline in the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot, predicting a "new era in relations with France".

But the newspaper added that sarkozy "is the president of the French Republic, not Israeli Prime Minister."

"It is significant that he started his electoral campaign abroad by visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. This obliges him to face the challenge of Iranian nuclear," the newspaper added.

Maariv hailed "the French revolution which brings a clear friend of Israel to the Elysée Palace for the first time in the fifth republic."

"Sarkozy will be a honest mediator between Israel and the Arab world. This already is a small French revolution," Maariv wrote.

Haaretz just published a report from Paris on the vote, hailing the democratic process in France and saying that the "hardest test for sarkozy will be for him the issue of immigration."

All Israeli newspapers are citing Israeli politicians who consider Sarkozy as a "friend of Israel."
[...]

And here follows another revealing article reproduced in The Australian Jewish News:

Sarkozy's Jewish roots

May 8, 2007

France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, lost 57 members of his family to the Nazis and comes from a long line of Jewish and Zionist leaders and heroes, writes RAANAN ELIAZ.

In an interview Nicolas Sarkozy gave in 2004, he expressed an extraordinary understanding of the plight of the Jewish people for a home: “Should I remind you the visceral attachment of every Jew to Israel, as a second mother homeland? There is nothing outrageous about it. Every Jew carries within him a fear passed down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him. And this is Israel.”

Sarkozy’s sympathy and understanding is most probably a product of his upbringing it is well known that Sarkozy’s mother was born to the Mallah family, one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece.

Additionally, many may be surprised to learn that his yet-to-be-revealed family history involves a true and fascinating story of leadership, heroism and survival.

It remains to be seen whether his personal history will affect his foreign policy and France’s role in the Middle East conflict.

In the 15th century, the Mallah family (in Hebrew: messenger or angel) escaped the Spanish Inquisition to Provence, France and moved about one hundred years later to Salonika.

In Greece, several family members became prominent Zionist leaders, active in the local and national political, economic, social and cultural life.

To this day many Mallahs are still active Zionists around the world.

Sarkozy’s grandfather, Aron Mallah, nicknamed Beniko, was born in 1890.

Beniko’s uncle Moshe was a well-known Rabbi and a devoted Zionist who, in 1898 published and edited “El Avenir”, the leading paper of the Zionist national movement in Greece at the time.

His cousin, Asher, was a Senator in the Greek Senate and in 1912 he helped guarantee the establishment of the Technion – the elite technological university in Haifa, Israel.

In 1919 he was elected as the first President of the Zionist Federation of Greece and he headed the Zionist Council for several years. In the 1930’s he helped Jews flee to Israel, to which he himself immigrated in 1934.

Another of Beniko’s cousins, Peppo Mallah, was a philanthropist for Jewish causes who served in the Greek Parliament, and in 1920 he was offered, but declined, the position of Greece’s Minister of Finance. After the establishment of the State of Israel he became the country’s first diplomatic envoy to Greece.

In 1917 a great fire destroyed parts of Salonika and damaged the family estate.

Many Jewish-owned properties, including the Mallah’s, were expropriated by the Greek government. Jewish population emigrated from Greece and much of the Mallah family left Salonika to France, America and Israel.

Sarkozy’s grandfather, Beniko, immigrated to France with his mother. When in France Beniko converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Benedict in order to marry a French Christian girl named Adèle Bouvier.

Adèle and Benedict had two daughters, Susanne and Andrée. Although Benedict integrated fully into French society, he remained close to his Jewish family, origin and culture.

Knowing he was still considered Jewish by blood, during World War II he and his family hid in Marcillac la Croisille in the Corrèze region, western France.

During the Holocaust, many of the Mallahs who stayed in Salonika or moved to France were deported to concentration and extermination camps.

In total, fifty-seven family members were murdered by the Nazis. Testimonies reveal that several revolted against the Nazis and one, Buena Mallah, was the subject of Nazis medical experiments in the Birkenau concentration camp.

In 1950 Benedict’s daughter, Andrée Mallah, married Pal Nagy Bosca y Sarkozy, a descendent of a Hungarian aristocratic family. The couple had three sons – Guillaume, Nicolas and François.

The marriage failed and they divorced in 1960, so Andrée raised her three boys close to their grandfather, Benedict.

Nicolas was especially close to Benedict, who was like a father to him. In his biography Sarkozy tells he admired his grandfather, and through hours spent of listening to his stories of the Nazi occupation, the “Maquis” (French resistance), De Gaulle and the D-day, Benedict bequeathed to Nicolas his political convictions.

Sarkozy’s family lived in Paris until Benedict’s death in 1972, at which point they moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine to be closer to the boys’ father, Pal (who changed his name to Paul) Sarkozy. Various memoirs accounted Paul as a father who did not spend much time with the kids or help the family monetarily.

Nicolas had to sell flowers and ice cream in order to pay for his studies. However, his fascination with politics led him to become the city’s youngest mayor and to rise to the top of French and world politics. The rest is history.

It may be a far leap to consider that Sarkozy’s Jewish ancestry may have any bearing on his policies vis-à-vis Israel.

However, many expect Sarkozy’s presidency to bring a dramatic change not only in France’s domestic affairs, but also in the country’s foreign policy in the Middle-East.

One cannot overestimate the magnitude of the election of the first French President born after World War II, whose politics seem to represent a new dynamic after decades of old-guard Chirac and Mitterrand.

There is even a reason to believe that Sarkozy, often mocked as “the American friend” and blamed for ‘ultra-liberal’ worldviews, will lean towards a more Atlanticist policy.

Nevertheless, there are several reasons that any expectations for a drastic change in the country’s Middle East policy, or foreign policy in general, should be downplayed.

First, one must bear in mind that France’s new president will spend the lion’s share of his time dealing with domestic issues such as the country’s stagnated economy, its social cohesiveness and the rising integration-related crime rate. When he finds time to deal with foreign affairs, Sarkozy will have to devote most of his energy to protecting France’s standing in an ever-involved European Union.

In his dealings with the US, Sarkozy will most likely prefer to engage on less explosive agenda-items than the Middle-East.

Second, France’s foreign policy stems from the nation’s interests, rooted in reality and influenced by a range of historic, political, strategic and economic considerations.

Since Sarkozy’s landing at the Elysée on May 16 will not change those, France’s foreign policy ship will not tilt so quickly under a new captain.

Third reason why expectations for a drastic change in France’s position in the Middle-East may be naïve is the significant weight the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs exerts over the country’s policies and agenda.

There, non-elected bureaucrats tend to retain an image of Israel as a destabilizing element in the Middle-East rather then the first line of defence of democracy.

Few civil servants in Quai d’Orsay would consider risking France’s interests or increasing chances for “a clash of civilizations” in order to help troubled Israel or Palestine to reach peace.

It is a fair to predict that France will stay consistent with its support in establishing a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, existing side by side with a peaceful Israel.

How to get there, if at all, will not be set by Sarkozy’s flagship but rather he will follow the leadership of the US and the EU. Not much new policy is expected regarding Iran, on which Sarkozy has already voiced willingness to allow development of civilian nuclear capabilities, alongside tighter sanctions on any developments with military potency.

One significant policy modification that could actually come through under Sarkozy is on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. The new French president is not as friendly to Lebanon as was his predecessor, furthermore, as the Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy even advocated closer ties between France and Syria.

Especially if the later plays the cards of talking-peace correctly, Sarkozy may increase pressure on Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Assad.

Despite the above, although Sarkozy’s family roots will not bring France closer to Israel, the presidents’ personal Israeli friends may. As a Minister of Interior, Sarkozy shared much common policy ground with former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The two started to develop a close friendship not long ago and it is easy to observe similarities not only in their ideology and politics, but also in their public image. If Netanyahu returns to Israel’s chief position it will be interesting to see whether their personal dynamic will lead to a fresh start for Israel and France, and a more constructive European role in the region.

EJPRESS

Raanan Eliaz is a former Director at the Israeli National Security Council and the Hudson Institute, Washington D.C. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and a consultant on European-Israeli Affairs.

And yet another article reproduced in The Australian Jewish News:

French Jews celebrate Sarkozy victory

by Rina Bassist

May 7, 2007

PARIS -- Optimistic and celebratory, Jewish groups were quick to offer congratulations to Nicolas Sarkozy after his victory in French presidential elections.

Sarkozy, of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal in Sunday's runoff.

He garnered some 53 percent to Royal's 47 percent in the election, which featured a huge voter turnout.

The former interior minister was seen by Jewish voters as a friend to Israel and an important figure in the fight against antisemitism. Soon after his opponent conceded, Jewish groups came out with their good wishes.

"At a time when French Jews felt directly threatened by the rise in violent antisemitism in Paris and elsewhere across France a few years ago, Sarkozy played a critical role in moving the French government to finally recognise the gravity of the problem and to do what is necessary to address the ill winds that not only threaten the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, but, as we know from history, would ultimately pose a threat to wider French society," American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris said in a statement.

The AJCommittee recalled that Sarkozy during that period was instrumental in stepping up police protection around Jewish buildings and schools, and arresting and prosecuting those who committed anti-Semitic acts. He told the group in a Washington address in 2004 that he would "consider any insult against Jews an insult against France."

CRIF, the French Jewish community's umbrella group, addressed its "warmest and most respectful congratulations" to Sarkozy in a Sunday statement.

"Your position statements during the electoral campaign carry much hope for a France that needs to be reconciled with itself," President Roger Cukierman wrote. "I was touched by what you said and I understand that you intend to be a standard bearer of the French values we so cherish, those of a republic that... respects every individual and leaves no room for intolerance, racism and antisemitism."

In a race that offered a clear choice between conservative and liberal policy, the voters gave Sarkozy, 52, a clear mandate for his economic and social reforms when he takes office May 16.

The grandson of a Greek Jew and the son of a Hungarian aristocrat, Sarkozy has pledged to initiate tougher rules to make it more difficult for immigrants to bring extended families to France. Among the economic reforms Sarkozy has pledged to push through early on are abolishing a tax on overtime, cutting the inheritance tax and obligating the unemployed to take work that is offered.

Sarkozy, who will succeed Jacques Chirac, will become the first president of immigrant stock.

Known as an American-style, law-and-order politician, Sarkozy had earned points in the Jewish community for his hard line against Muslim unrest in France, including antisemitic attacks though he drew fire from some liberal and immigrant groups for referring to some of the rioters as "rabble."

In his victory speech at party headquarters in Paris, Sarkozy mentioned France's relationship with the United States. "True friends can accept each other even if they have differences of opinions," he said.

Frederic Encel, professor at the prestigious Science-Po Institute, said that Sarkozy's unusual willingness to be associated with the United States also strengthens hope for good relations between France and Israel. "Nicolas Sarkozy is by far the most pro-Israeli French presidential figure Israel could have hoped for," he said.

The fact that Sarkozy had not been trained at France's national public administration school or by the Foreign Ministry "is a great advantage for Israel, as he is not committed to traditional diplomacy," Encel said. "Royal would have stuck with existing approach," he added, allowing people like her adviser Jean Louis Baillancourt, a member of a pro-Palestinian organisation, to lead French diplomacy.

Royal, 53, who trailed in the polls since Sarkozy won the first round of voting on April 22, had warned that electing Sarkozy might spark the kind of rioting that took place in the suburbs last year. She said his candidacy represented "a dangerous choice."

"It is my responsibility to alert people to the risk of [his] candidature with regards to the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country," said Royal, who during a televised debate May 2 accused Sarkozy of "political immorality."

Both candidates symbolised a break with the old guard. Both were born after World War II and said they were intent on bringing a real change after Chirac's 12-year rule. But the similarities ended there: French voters had to choose between two very distinct personalities, attitudes and political programs.

Sarkozy entered politics as a protege of Chirac, but the two had a falling-out that remains to this day when Sarkozy backed Chirac's rival for the presidency in 1995.

The Jewish community has seen Sarkozy as a friend of Israel, though he maintains the Jewish state must make concessions to allow the Palestinians to establish a viable state. But he has made clear to the Palestinian Authority that there is no justification for violence to achieve its means.

In an interview in the Jerusalem Post, Sarkozy called the 2002 Saudi initiative "constructive." Under the two-state proposal, Arab states would recognize Israel if it withdrew to its pre-1967 borders and calls for a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

In the interview, Sarkozy said, "Only if Israel is guaranteed that its existence will not be threatened and the Palestinians are allowed to form a viable state can we achieve a durable and viable solution."

One Jewish voter said, "As far as Israel is concerned, Royal has nothing to offer us, compared to Sarkozy."

Outside a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, one Sarkozy voter rued some of Royal's supporters. "As a Jew I don't like the fact that many pro-Palestinian radical activists participate at her meetings," said Armand, who asked that his last name not be used. "I think this is dangerous.

"Sarkozy, on the other hand, is one of the only [future] heads of states to have gone to the U.S. to meet President Bush. I'm not a fan of Bush, but still. In any case, I don't think that Sarkozy is a fascist, as some people try to make us believe."

JTA - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

And the Israeli paper The Jerusalem Post´s online edition, writes:

Sarkozy gets nearly 90% of Israeli votes
by Herb Keinon |

The Jersualem Post, May 7, 2007

French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy received a higher percentage of votes from French citizens in Israel than from expatriates in any other country, according to the French Foreign Ministry.

It said 90.7 percent of French citizens living in Israel outside of Jerusalem voted for Sarkozy, significantly higher than the 53% percent of the vote he garnered in France. According to Israeli diplomatic officials, Sarkozy was viewed by expatriates here as being pro-Israel.

Some 6,276 French citizens - or just 19% of eligible French voters in Israel - cast absentee ballots.

In Jerusalem, under the jurisdiction of the French Consulate and not the French Embassy in Tel Aviv, some 2,500 people voted, 87% of them for Sarkozy.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert phoned Sarkozy on Monday to congratulate him on his victory. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Sarkozy said: "I am a friend of Israel, and Israel can always count on my friendship."

The two men agreed to speak again soon after Sarkozy takes office. Olmert is expected to meet Sarkozy in Paris this summer.

In the US, Sarkozy won just under 64% of absentee ballots, in England 53% (the same as he received in France) and in Canada 46%.

Of 6,360 Lebanese with French citizenship, 71.5 % voted for Sarkozy, an indication that just as Israelis view him as pro-Israeli, French Lebanese seem to view him as pro-Lebanese.

In Syria, some 69% of the 800 absentee ballots went to Sarkozy's challenger, Segolene Royal. One diplomatic official in Jerusalem said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad was obviously relieved that French President Jacques Chirac was leaving office, though he would likely have preferred the more inexperienced Royal to Sarkozy.

Following the assassination of Chirac's friend and former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the official said, France's attitude toward Syria became completely colored by Chirac's personal distaste for Assad.

"Chirac was determined to isolate Assad," the official said. "Sarkozy will also be tough toward Assad and his policy will be coordinated with the US, but it will not be as personal as it was with Chirac."

"Today is less bad a day then it was yesterday for Assad in regards to France," the official added.

Regarding Franco-Israeli relations, the official said that while Sarkozy was friendly to Israel, "it's not as if the Lubavitcher Rebbe was just elected. Sarkozy is a friend, but he did not just become the mayor of Jerusalem. He needs to think of all the French, and there are objective French interests throughout the Arab world."

Nevertheless, the official said there would likely be a change in the relationship.

"The tone now is likely to be warmer and more friendly, even when there are disagreements," he said. "We are unlikely to see the coldness and the enmity that we saw during Chirac's tenure... until the point when Chirac developed a chemistry with [prime minister] Ariel Sharon."

Vice Premier Shimon Peres also phoned Sarkozy to congratulate him Monday, and told him his victory held out "promise for France, a constructive feeling for the world and hope for the Middle East and all of us."

Peres praised Sarkozy for calling, during his acceptance speech Sunday evening, for the construction of a "Mediterranean Union that will link Europe and Africa. What was done for Europe 60 years ago, we will do today for a Mediterranean Union."

Peres told Sarkozy this idea was "fascinating."

Sarkozy and Shimon Peres... fooling an entire world

More on Jewish-Israeli influence in France