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Nicolas Sarkozy,
new President of France: Past and Future

By Raanan Eliaz

Updated: 06/May/2007
19:05

Nicolas Sarkozy (L) with Israel's
opposition Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu in
Paris.

Photo: Alain
Azria

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In an interview Nicolas Sarkozy gave in
2004, he expressed an extraordinary understanding of the plight of the
Jewish people for a home: “Should I remind you the visceral
attachment of every Jew to Israel, as a second mother homeland? There is
nothing outrageous about it. Every Jew carries within him a fear passed
down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel
safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him.
And this is Israel.” (From the book “La République, les religions,
l’espérance”, interviews with Thibaud Collin and Philippe Verdin.)

Sarkozy’s sympathy and understanding is most probably a
product of his upbringing; it is well known that Sarkozy’s mother was born
to the Mallah family, one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika,
Greece. Additionally, many may be surprised to learn that his
yet-to-be-revealed family history involves a true and fascinating story of
leadership, heroism and survival. It remains to be seen whether his
personal history will affect his foreign policy and France’s role in the
Middle East conflict.

In the 15th century, the Mallah family (in
Hebrew: messenger or angel) escaped the Spanish Inquisition to Provence,
France and moved about one hundred years later to Salonika. In Greece,
several family members became prominent Zionist leaders, active in the
local and national political, economic, social and cultural life. To this
day many Mallahs are still active Zionists around the world.

Sarkozy’s grandfather, Aron Mallah, nicknamed Benkio, was born in
1890. Beniko’s uncle Moshe was a well-known Rabbi and a devoted Zionist
who, in 1898 published and edited “El Avenir”, the leading paper of the
Zionist national movement in Greece at the time. His cousin, Asher, was a
Senator in the Greek Senate and in 1912 he helped guarantee the
establishment of the Technion – the elite technological university in
Haifa, Israel. In 1919 he was elected as the first President of the
Zionist Federation of Greece and he headed the Zionist Council for several
years. In the 1930’s he helped Jews flee to Israel, to which he himself
immigrated in 1934. Another of Beniko’s cousins, Peppo Mallah, was a
philanthropist for Jewish causes who served in the Greek Parliament, and
in 1920 he was offered, but declined, the position of Greece’s Minister of
Finance. After the establishment of the State of Israel he became the
country’s first diplomatic envoy to Greece.

In 1917 a great fire
destroyed parts of Salonika and damaged the family estate. Many
Jewish-owned properties, including the Mallah’s, were expropriated by the
Greek government. Jewish population emigrated from Greece and much of the
Mallah family left Salonika to France, America and Israel. Sarkozy’s
grandfather, Beniko, immigrated to France with his mother. When in France
Beniko converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Benedict in order
to marry a French Christian girl named Adèle Bouvier.

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Adèle and
Benedict had two daughters, Susanne and Andrée. Although Benedict
integrated fully into French society, he remained close to his Jewish
family, origin and culture. Knowing he was still considered Jewish by
blood, during World War II he and his family hid in Marcillac la Croisille
in the Corrèze region, western France.

During the Holocaust, many
of the Mallahs who stayed in Salonika or moved to France were deported to
concentration and extermination camps. In total, fifty-seven family
members were murdered by the Nazis. Testimonies reveal that several
revolted against the Nazis and one, Buena Mallah, was the subject of Nazis
medical experiments in the Birkenau concentration camp.

In 1950
Benedict’s daughter, Andrée Mallah, married Pal Nagy Bosca y Sarkozy, a
descendent of a Hungarian aristocratic family. The couple had three sons –
Guillaume, Nicolas and François. The marriage failed and they divorced in
1960, so Andrée raised her three boys close to their grandfather,
Benedict. Nicolas was especially close to Benedict, who was like a father
to him. In his biography Sarkozy tells he admired his grandfather, and
through hours spent of listening to his stories of the Nazi occupation,
the “Maquis” (French resistance), De Gaulle and the D-day, Benedict
bequeathed to Nicolas his political convictions.

Sarkozy’s family
lived in Paris until Benedict’s death in 1972, at which point they moved
to Neuilly-sur-Seine to be closer to the boys’ father, Pal (who changed
his name to Paul) Sarkozy. Various memoirs accounted Paul as a father who
did not spend much time with the kids or help the family monetarily.
Nicolas had to sell flowers and ice cream in order to pay for his studies.
However, his fascination with politics led him to become the city’s
youngest mayor and to rise to the top of French and world politics. The
rest is history.

It may be a far leap to consider that
Sarkozy’s Jewish ancestry may have any bearing on his policies vis-à-vis
Israel. However, many expect Sarkozy’s presidency to bring a dramatic
change not only in France’s domestic affairs, but also in the country’s
foreign policy in the Middle-East. One cannot overestimate the magnitude
of the election of the first French President born after World War II,
whose politics seem to represent a new dynamic after decades of old-guard
Chirac and Mitterrand. There is even a reason to believe that Sarkozy,
often mocked as “the American friend” and blamed for ‘ultra-liberal’
worldviews, will lean towards a more Atlanticist policy. Nevertheless,
there are several reasons that any expectations for a drastic change in
the country’s Middle East policy, or foreign policy in general, should be
downplayed.

First, one must bear in mind that France’s new
president will spend the lion’s share of his time dealing with domestic
issues such as the country’s stagnated economy, its social cohesiveness
and the rising integration-related crime rate. When he finds time to deal
with foreign affairs, Sarkozy will have to devote most of his energy to
protecting France’s standing in an ever-involved European Union (http://www.ejpress.org/article/13181).
In his dealings with the US, Sarkozy will most likely prefer to engage on
less explosive agenda-items than the Middle-East.

Second, France’s
foreign policy stems from the nation’s interests, rooted in reality and
influenced by a range of historic, political, strategic and economic
considerations. Since Sarkozy’s landing at the Elysée on May 16 will not
change those, France’s foreign policy ship will not tilt so quickly under
a new captain.

Third reason why expectations for a drastic change
in France’s position in the Middle-East may be naïve is the significant
weight the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs exerts over the country’s
policies and agenda. There, non-elected bureaucrats tend to retain an
image of Israel as a destabilizing element in the Middle-East rather then
the first line of defense of democracy. Few civil servants in Quai d’Orsay
would consider risking France’s interests or increasing chances for “a
clash of civilizations” in order to help troubled Israel or Palestine to
reach peace.

It is a fair to predict that France will stay
consistent with its support in establishing a viable Palestinian state
with East Jerusalem as its capital, existing side by side with a peaceful
Israel. How to get there, if at all, will not be set by Sarkozy’s flagship
but rather he will follow the leadership of the US and the EU. Not much
new policy is expected regarding Iran, on which Sarkozy has already voiced
willingness to allow development of civilian nuclear capabilities,
alongside tighter sanctions on any developments with military potency.

One significant policy modification that could actually come
through under Sarkozy is on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. The new French
president is not as friendly to Lebanon as was his predecessor,
furthermore, as the Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy even advocated
closer ties between France and Syria. Especially if the later plays the
cards of talking-peace correctly, Sarkozy may increase pressure on Israel
to evacuate the Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Assad.

Despite the above, although Sarkozy’s family roots will not bring
France closer to Israel, the presidents’ personal Israeli friends may. As
a Minister of Interior, Sarkozy shared much common policy ground with
former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The two started to
develop a close friendship not long ago and it is easy to observe
similarities not only in their ideology and politics, but also in their
public image. If Netanyahu returns to Israel’s chief position it will be
interesting to see whether their personal dynamic will lead to a fresh
start for Israel and France, and a more constructive European role in the
region.

Raanan Eliaz is a former Director at the Israeli
National Security Council and the Hudson Institute, Washington D.C.
He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Catholic University of
Leuven, Belgium, and a consultant on European-Israeli
Affairs.

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