Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Ron Prosor met with French extremist leader Marine Le Pen for 20 minutes and smiled for photos, but his office insists the whole episode was a misunderstanding.
Le Pen is the leader of the right-wing National Front party in France and is the daughter of the party’s former outspoken leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was convicted in Germany for incitement by saying more than once that the Nazi death machine was only “a detail of World War II.”
His daughter is trying to change the party’s anti-Jewish image to one of a struggle against immigrants and radical Islam.
French opinion polls give Le Pen a respectable 17-19 percent support, and it is possible that Israel might not want to be out in left field in the event that she leads the party in a coalition government after the next election. Switzerland already is leading a new anti-Islam trend in Europe.
Prosor walked into a meeting at the United Nations on Thursday and stood next to Le Pen for 20 minutes, smiling for the cameras but later explaining, through spokespersons, that it was a mix-up.
Le Pen dismissed his pronounced innocence. Other ambassadors also were present and stayed for a luncheon.
Prosor departed beforehand, but before a formal claim of a “misunderstanding,” he said, “We flourish on the diversity of ideas. We talked about Europe, about other issues and I enjoyed the conversation very much."
Le Pen is touring the United States in a move to improve the National Front party’s image and suggested she is prepared to visit Israel – if she receives a formal invitation.