Over half of French voters in Israel pick far-right Zemmour for president

Over half of French voters in Israel picked far-right candidate Eric Zemmour as their choice for France's next president in the election's first round on Sunday, according to an unofficial tally.

Zemmour was preferred by 53.59 percent of voters, while incumbent President Emmanuel Macron lagged behind on 31.72 percent, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Tuesday.

These figures seem to be without parallel anywhere and come despite Zemmour only securing a little more than 7 percent of votes overall in the election.

The Israel tally is unofficial, with the Tel Aviv district the only area for which initial figures were released on Tuesday.

Zemmour received a €10,000 fine in January for inciting racial hatred. He has made anti-Islam comments and advocated harsh measures on immigration.

The son of Algerian Jewish parents, Zemmour raised the death of a disabled Jewish man in France during campaigning.

There have been allegations made that Jérémie Cohen was escaping from an anti-Semitic attack when a tram hit and killed him.

Official, complete results for overseas voters will be issued on Wednesday after any challenges have been considered.

In addition to the Tel Aviv area, there is also an electoral district in Jerusalem.

This includes voters in predominantly Palestinian-populated areas of East Jerusalem, in addition to those in the West Bank, who were served by a polling station in Ramallah.

A shocking video featuring French far-right pundit Eric Zemmour surfaced today on social media, sparking controversy.https://t.co/fwuioWRL3d

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 26, 2021

Tuesday's results do not demonstrate the view of the average French resident of Israel, Le Monde stressed, noting that only about 10 percent of those eligible to vote took part in the election.

France will now proceed to a second round of voting, where citizens must decide between centrist Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen.

Zemmour has called on his voters to support Le Pen while others, including centre-right Valérie Pécresse and centre-left Anne Hidalgo, backed Macron.

Leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was only beaten into the second round by Le Pen by 1.2 percentage points, called for "not a single vote" to be given to the National Rally candidate but stopped short of endorsing Macron.