Le Pen: French Jews will have to forfeit Israeli citizenship

Jewish citizens of France will be forced to forfeit their Israeli citizenship, presidential candidate and head of the National Front, Marie Le Pen, said.

Le Pen added that if she is elected, she will not allow French citizens to maintain their citizenship of any a non-European country.

During her interview with France 2 TV yesterday, Le Pen said that Russia is considered a European nation and therefore citizens can have French and Russian dual citizenship.

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When asked specifically about Jews in France, she said: “Israel isn’t a member of the European Union, and doesn’t consider itself as such, and therefore a dual French-Israeli citizenship will not be allowed.”

According to Haaretz newspaper, this step would mean that a dual national would have to give up one citizenship. If the French Jews choose to keep their Israeli citizenship, they would find it difficult to remain in France as foreigners because Le Pen’s political programme includes a number of measures against foreigners, including the imposition of a tax on employers employing foreigners.

The dual nationality ban is also expected to be applied to citizens of the US and North African countries.