PARIS (CN) – Jean-Luc Mélenchon, France’s far-left candidate for the 2027 presidential election, is gaining strength in the polls despite hard-line pro-Palestinian rhetoric that experts say borders on anti-Semitic.
“In his analysis of the ‘New France’, Mélenchon admitted – and this is an apt analysis – that he has an electorate that has been radicalized since October 7 (2023) and that can bring him many votes through an anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian discourse,” said politician Gilbertmin Casasus. “All those who observed, first of all me, were surprised by it victories achieved by (Melenchon’s party France Unbowed)in some cities”.
The party had victories in local elections in March in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis and the northern city of Roubaix, although there were mixed results elsewhere.
Mélenchon has rallied support behind his idea of a “New France,” defined by a young and diverse electorate that may not be inspired to vote. However, a central part of his discourse has been anti-Zionist; Critics have called Mélenchon radical, anti-Semitic and extreme for refusing to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization after it attacked Israel in October 2023, triggering an ongoing regional crisis.
A year later, he called for a mass display of Palestinian flags across the country, which caused controversy; people saw the initiative as insensitive to the almost 1,200 people killed by Hamas that day in Israel. Gaza’s Ministry of Health, considered generally reliable by the United Nations, reported 72,835 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war until May 7.
Rima Hassan, a prominent Franco-Palestinian MP from France Unbowed, added fuel to the fire in 2025 when she told the Sud radio station that Hamas’s actions were “legitimate from the point of view of international law” and justified “an armed struggle in a context of colonization”. However, Hassan reiterated that she and France Unbowed viewed the attack as a war crime.
Her comments prompted then-Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to report her to the Paris prosecutor.
“There are people within France Unbowed who continue to defend the idea that the Palestinian armed struggle, whether by Hamas or other groups, is a legitimate reaction to Israel’s stance,” said Jean-Yves Camus, a political scientist, researcher and author specializing in far-right movements across Europe. “Not about Israel’s attitude after October 7, but about Israel’s attitude in general.”
Mélenchon and his party are constantly making headlines for comments on the Israel-Hamas War. Experts say the strategy is deliberate, designed to attract a somewhat niche electorate that might not have voted before.
AND polls show to some extent, it is working; Mélenchon is sitting at around 16% heading into the 2027 election, just behind center-right Edouard Philippe on 17%, though well behind 32% of the far right Jordan Bardellaaccording to an Odoxa-Mascaret poll for Public Sénat, a French parliamentary TV channel. This is a 4-point hit for Mélenchon since March.
“What has really become increasingly clear since October 2023 – although it was already sprouting during his previous presidential campaign in 2022 – is an internal strategy, linking his positions regarding the Middle East with his strategy to connect with a new electorate … not exclusively new, but in any case, one originating from the suburbs of Paris and elsewhere,” say the community political historian and university Muslim of all Muslims. of Orleans, said.
“This is an electorate that generally votes little, but is now being mobilized very massively by him, which provides – or at least this is his bet – a very high base in the first round that could allow him to qualify for the second round,” Allorant continued.
Presidential elections in France usually have two rounds. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the first, he is directly elected. If not, the top two face off in a second round. A common saying goes that people vote with their hearts in the first round and their heads in the second.
“This strategy is working because he reaches an identity-based constituency, and sometimes an intellectual one,” Casasus said. “And there are other things to consider as well – Mélenchon today is one of the most intellectual, most talented politicians in France … He has charisma.”
It is less clear whether his strategy will ultimately help him become president.
“It’s a very good first-round strategy,” Allorant said. “His problem is that, given his very divisive positions and above all, a very populist, demagogic style that flirts with anti-Semitism, we don’t see how he can win the second round of the election.”
Other surveys show the far-right Bardella defeating Mélenchon in a head-to-head match in the second round.
Maxime Lefebvre, a diplomat and professor at the ESCP Business School in Paris, thinks Mélenchon’s approach may find more support in public discourse amid widespread criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, which The UN has called it genocide. However, his provocative tone risks alienating voters.
In February, Mélenchon was criticized for mocking sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s name; Critics argued the joke was rooted in anti-Semitism, while he said he was simply mocking the media’s pronunciation.
“It’s a complex and sensitive issue, but the fact is that he had some words that remind us a little bit of what (Marine Le Pen’s father) Jean-Marie Le Pen was doing in terms of expression, jokes, using some anti-Semitic clichés, and he was very harshly criticized for that,” Lefebvre said. “So I’d say he’s playing with fire in this game.”
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