Hamas attack on Israel: Meyer Habib, a deputy at the heart of the crisis

Sunday, at 6:30 a.m., Meyer Habib sent an SMS to Emmanuel Macron. The related deputy LR for French people abroad wanted to inform the President of the Republic of certain information concerning Avidan, a young Frenchman from Bordeaux taken hostage by Hamas. In close contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the elected official - whose constituency includes some 200,000 French people living in Israel - communicates the information at his disposal. On Monday, he estimated the number of French hostages remaining in the hands of the Palestinian terrorist organization at “7 or 8”.

» LIVE - Follow the latest information on the Hamas attack on Israel

After informing the Israeli authorities of the “total” support of several members of the Republicans, the parliamentarian also spoke with the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the President of the National Assembly. “Well done Madam President, dear Yaël Braun-Pivert, you made the right decision” he reacted on Monday, upon discovering the press release from the Assembly announcing the ban on Abu Daqqa’s visit to the Palais Bourbon, member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In the current climate marked by “astonishment, sadness, solidarity and concern”, Meyer Habib believes that France must be careful not to accept the organization of certain events which could be perceived as “incitements to terrorism”. The Franco-Israeli MP, who has two children in Tel Aviv and three nephews mobilized in the IDF army, regrets the cancellation of flights between France and Israel by the company Air France.

“I was able to have access to images of absolute horror, which I cannot share,” he confides, angry at the reactions of part of the far left in France. Moreover, he calls for the “dissolution of the NPA”, the New Anti-Capitalist Party of Philippe Poutou, and he considers that certain deputies of France Insoumise must be “deprived of their immunity and criminally sanctioned”.

Meyer Habib also sees various “worrying weak signals” of support for terrorism in France. “When we see certain reactions, we have reason to be worried,” says the spokesperson for the fears of the Jewish community. Before going to Israel in the coming days, the MP requested an interview with Emmanuel Macron. But he takes the reassuring messages from the French authorities with a pinch of salt. “I heard Minister Gérald Darmanin say this morning that there was no particular threat in France. I listen to it but I also remember that we were told the same thing before Toulouse, Hyper Cacher, Sarah Halimi, Bataclan, Charlie Hebdo... I am worried about the development of the Muslim Brotherhood in France. We must open our eyes!” insists the French MP. For now, around twenty anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in France over the past 48 hours according to the government.