French National Assembly Deputy of Tunisian Jewish descent Meyer Habib, who a week ago Sunday came well ahead of his opponent in the first round of the legislative elections (35.58% vs 24.18%), was beaten this Sunday by Caroline Yadan in the 8th constituency of French people living abroad, which includes residents of Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Israel, the PA and Gaza, Italy, and Turkey.
Yadan served in President Macron’s government as Minister of the Civil Service, and in 2022 was appointed to the National Assembly, representing Paris’s 3rd constituency. Yadan is considered pro-Israel, but she is not involved in domestic Israeli politics, is not close to Netanyahu, and, unlike Habib, has not criticized the French government’s positions on the war in Gaza.
Habib has been considered PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s confidant for years and was involved in various aspects of the relationship between Israel and France during Netanyahu’s tenure. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana participated in promotional videos for Habib’s campaign, an unusual move that involved top Israeli government officials in an election in another country.
At the end of the second round of voting, Habib announced on his X account that he had won 85% of the votes in Israel, excluding electronic voting, distributed as follows:
Jerusalem: 85%
Tel Aviv: 69%
Eilat: 98%
Netanya: 93%
Ashdod: 93%
Haifa: 76%
Beersheba: 69%
Everywhere else in Israel: 100%
But the French folks living in Cyprus, Malta, Greece, the PA, Gaza, Italy, and Turkey were not impressed.
Habib grew up in Paris, where his father, Emmanuel Habib, established “Vins Habib Frères,” a company specializing in Kosher wine production.
Since 2013, Habib has been a member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
In 2016, a controversy arose when documents from Netanyahu’s office showed that Habib had funded several of the PM’s international trips during the 2000s. Following his re-election in 2017, Habib publicly criticized French media outlets for what he perceived as unfair treatment of his long-standing friendship with Netanyahu.
