French-Israelis vote overwhelmingly for Macron

An Israeli soldier votes at the French consulate in Jerusalem during the second round of the French presidential vote on May 7, 2017 (AFP Photo/Thomas Coex)

Fear of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen seen as factor driving strong support for president-elect among Jews

By Alexander Fulbright | The Times of Israel

Israelis eligible to vote in the second round of France’s presidential elections on Sunday opted overwhelmingly for the winner, Emmanuel Macron, France’s ambassador to Israel said Monday.

In a post on her Twitter account, Helene Le Gal said that Macron received 96.3 percent of votes in Israel. The vote was seen as an effort to block his opponent, the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Overall, Macron won 64% of the vote.

She said that the figure was based on results in Tel Aviv, Netanya, Haifa, Ashdod, Eilat and Beersheba, but did not include votes from the French consulate in Jerusalem.

In an interview with Army Radio, Le Gal said she thought Macron would be “very friendly” toward Israel, but did not elaborate on what the focus in relations between the two countries would be during Macron’s presidency.

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