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'A victory against hate and extremism'

Jewish groups applaud French electorate as Macron becomes French President

May 7, 2017 18:15
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1 min read

Exit polls indicate Emmanuel Macron has been elected president of France, to the relief of the country's Jewish community.

Mr Macron is projected to win 65.1 per cent of the vote against 34.9 for his far-right rival Marine Le Pen, whose party, the National Front has a history of antisemitism and racism.  

A victory by Ms Le Pen would have represented a disaster for all minorities in France, especially its 500,000-strong Jewish community.

The National Front was founded in the 1970s by her father, a Holocaust denier with convictions for inciting racial hatred against Jews.