New Popular Front victory spells out very bad news for Israel
The new left-wing alliance calls to 'break with the guilty support of Netanyahu's extreme right-wing supremacist government to enforce an immediate ceasefire in Gaza'
The New Popular Front, an alliance of several far-left parties in France, became the leading party in France's National Assembly after the second round of elections on Sunday. While it does not have an absolute majority and will need to form a coalition to pass laws, its victory is very bad news for Israel.
In its "breakthrough" program, the new left alliance calls for France to break with the "guilty support of Netanyahu's far-right supremacist government to impose an immediate ceasefire in Gaza."
The far-left union also calls for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to enforce an order against Israel over the "risk of genocide" in Gaza.
After his victory, leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said as prime minister he would extend "immediate recognition to the State of Palestine."
The New Popular Front vowed to support the "ICC [International Criminal Court] in its prosecutions against the leaders of Hamas and Netanyahu's supremacist government".
In addition, arms sales to Israel would also be banned.
This comes amid a negative trajectory in Israel-French relations, despite having warm ties in the past. Two months ago, France's largest arms exposition was banned from allowing Israeli firms from participating, although a court later overturned this.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose party fell from power in the National Assembly after he called for snap elections, recently did not condition a ceasefire on the return of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip.