Eric Zemmour, leader of the far-right Reconquête party, voiced support for banning the wearing of kippahs in public spaces in France, alongside a ban on Muslim headscarves. In an interview this week on BFMTV’s “Face à BFM,” Zemmour was asked whether his proposed ban on religious symbols should also apply to the kippah. “In public spaces, yes,” he replied.
Zemmour, who is Jewish, said during the interview that when he was a child, his parents asked him to remove his kippah when he left the synagogue. He said this reflected the “spirit” of French secularism, which he defines as keeping religious affiliation discreet in public.
Eric Zemmour during his 2022 campaign
(Photo: Reuters)
Zemmour, 68, also said Jews in France now rarely wear kippahs in the street because of the danger of antisemitic attacks. He described enforcing a ban on religious symbols as an “absolute priority,” with particular emphasis on banning the Islamic headscarf.
Zemmour, who said he will run in next year’s presidential election, previously sought the presidency in 2022, winning just over 7% of the vote. He is Jewish and of Algerian descent and has long advocated hard-line policies on immigration and Islam in France. He has previously called on France’s large Muslim community to choose between “Islam or France” and proposed banning parents from giving children non-French names such as Mohammed. His 2027 candidacy was confirmed this week.
Although Zemmour is Jewish, some of his most vocal critics come from France’s Jewish community. Among other arguments, they say what they describe as his hostility toward Muslims makes it harder for them to persuade French politicians that Jews face a growing threat from Islamist antisemitism, and that his rhetoric risks portraying Jews themselves as racist. Writer Bernard-Henri Lévy has previously said Zemmour is “dangerous” and “dishonors Jewish morality.”
In other excerpts from the interview published by i24NEWS, Zemmour also detailed several of his immigration proposals, including deporting foreign nationals convicted of crimes, undocumented migrants and foreigners who rely solely on social welfare benefits.
He also wants authorities to be able to require a foreign national legally residing in France to leave the country after a prolonged period of unemployment. Zemmour said advances in artificial intelligence and robotics could make it possible to replace some of the migrant workforce.