Bardella's Alleged Antisemitic Past Reveals the National Rally's 'Philosemitism' as a Hollow PR Strategy
Source: Marlon Ettinger. "Jordan Bardella Isn’t Such a Friend of Jews After All." October 2, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that newly revealed messages allegedly written by French far-right leader Jordan Bardella, containing classic antisemitic conspiracy theories, expose his party's pro-Israel image as a calculated PR strategy rather than real change. Despite the National Rally's public efforts to distance itself from antisemitism and embrace Zionism, the author contends the party's deeper conspiratorial and racist worldview has never really gone away—it's just been repackaged for political convenience.
Conclusion
The National Rally's public embrace of Jews and Israel is a strategic rebranding exercise rather than evidence of genuine ideological change, and the party's conspiratorial, antisemitic worldview remains at its core.
Premises
- Mediapart's investigation alleges that Bardella, as a young party member, wrote messages espousing classic antisemitic conspiracy theories (e.g., Jews controlling banks, Zionism tied to bank domination)
- Bardella was deeply influenced by Alain Soral, a figure whose ideology fuses anti-immigrant racism with antisemitic conspiracy theory, and reportedly praised Soral's analyses as 'correct'
- The party's 'de-demonization' strategy (dédiabolisation), including expelling Jean-Marie Le Pen and cultivating ties with Israel, was explicitly designed as a public relations maneuver to make the party electable
- Bardella himself reportedly described politics as 'communication' and noted that cleaning up the party's rhetoric caused voter numbers to explode, while the party has 'stayed true to its founding ideology' for over 40 years
- The party now uses ostentatious pro-Israel gestures (visits to Yad Vashem, Jerusalem conferences) primarily as a defense against historical antisemitism charges and to redirect antisemitism accusations toward the left
- Prominent centrist and conservative figures (e.g., Klarsfeld, Retailleau) have uncritically endorsed the National Rally's transformation narrative, lending it legitimacy despite thin evidence of genuine change
Assumptions
- An organization's founding ideology and early personal statements of its leaders are reliable indicators of its present underlying character
- Public pro-Israel/pro-Jewish gestures can be strategically deployed without reflecting genuine belief change
- Mediapart's reporting and sourcing (despite being contested by Bardella and RN) is substantially credible
- The National Rally's shift in political strategy was consciously designed for electoral gain rather than driven by sincere ideological evolution
- Accusations of antisemitism against the left (France Insoumise) are comparatively less substantiated than the historical record of the far right's antisemitism