Eighteen months of unreserved support for the Israeli government have finally paid off: On March 26 and 27, the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party will be granted a new occasion to certify its "de-demonization," as its president, Jordan Bardella, has been invited to Israel for a conference that will be concluded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Marion Maréchal, a far-right member of the European Parliament who is no longer an RN member but is allied with her former party, will also be present. The RN called it a "historic" invitation.

The party co-founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen had long sought an invitation to Israel, in order to wash its reputation of the stain left by its longtime leader's repeated anti-Semitic and Holocaust-denying remarks. This goal has now converged with the aims of Netanyahu's government, as the Israeli prime minister, under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, is seeking new supporters in European democracies, after Paris and other capitals criticized the violence and length of Israel's military response to Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023.

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