30 October 2006
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the French extreme-right National Front, has criticized Israel's refusal to have any contact with his daughter Marine Le Pen during a planned visit of a European Parliament delegation in the country. "This decision is inappropriate," Le Pen declared on Friday. The Israeli authorities apparently objected to the inclusion of Marine Le Pen in the delegation, which prompted the European Parliament in Brussels to postpone the visit "for technical reasons that could affect the success of the mission". However, parliamentary sources confirmed that the cancellation was due to Israel's refusal to accept Marine Le Pen. The 16-member European Parliament delegation was scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories this week and was scheduled to meet Israeli officials, including prime minister Ehud Olmert, foreign minister Tzipi Livni and defense minister Amir Peretz.
In a letter to the European Parliament, Israel's Foreign Ministry stressed the "sensitivities" regarding contacts with representatives of the extreme-right parties in Europe. "The delegation contained a senior member of a political party which, unfortunately, is both racist and a Holocaust denier," spokesman Mark Regev said, adding, "For that reason, and although we wanted to receive delegations from the European Parliament, we said that if such a delegation with such a composition would come to Israel they would not receive official meetings." Israeli sources said they could hardly imagine Marine Le Pen at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem while her father, to whom she is close, has made anti-Semitic statements.
