Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not seek Monday evening to put an end to the controversy concerning his party’s position on current events in Israel, quite the contrary. Already isolated within the left itself for his refusal to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attack, the LFI leader instead opened a new front by attacking the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif).
His post on the X platform came just a few hours after the gathering of thousands of people, in a serious atmosphere, to express their solidarity with Israel, almost three days after the Islamist movement’s offensive.
Crif accused of “demonstrating with the RN”
“By forcing everyone to align with the position of the Israeli far-right government, by agreeing to demonstrate with the RN, by insulting the futile elected representatives of the PS, the Crif isolated and prevented the solidarity of the French with the will of peace and the demand for an immediate ceasefire. The dead on all sides deserve better and our total compassion,” wrote Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
France Insoumise has been at the center of a very lively controversy since Saturday, accused of ambiguity, even complacency over the attack on Hamas by its left-wing partners and by the government. Unlike other Nupes groups, LFI did not send a representative to the Paris march. “We go to all rallies that express solidarity with the Israeli and Palestinian victims and that demand a ceasefire and the return of peace. This is not the case for this evening’s gathering,” the coordinator of the movement, Manuel Bompard, indicated in the morning.
In the party, only the Paris deputy Rodrigo Arenas had announced he was going to this demonstration. Some LFI figures also seem to want to mark their difference with Jean-Luc Mélenchon and with their party’s initial press release, which compared the Hamas attack and the policy of the Israeli government.
In an interview with Release Monday evening, Clémentine Autain recognized that we could criticize LFI for “a lack of clarity” or “blunders”, while being indignant that we could “suggest or say seriously that LFI supports Hamas”. As early as Saturday, Somme MP François Ruffin stood out by expressing his “total condemnation of the Hamas attack”. Comments supported by the elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis Alexis Corbière.
Relations are strained with the PS
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s latest outing also risks further straining relations between the Insoumis and the socialists. The boss of the PS Olivier Faure thus estimated on Monday that the LFI declarations “will leave traces”, and demanded “explanations”.
First concrete action: the socialist group of the Île-de-France region announced “temporarily suspending (its) joint work” with the Insoumis, saying it was “shocked by the national position of the movement”. In this climate, left-wing deputies will meet this Tuesday for the weekly meeting of the Nupes intergroup.