Habib has been close to the prime minister for years and was involved in Israel-France relations under Netanyahu. The prime minister, alongside defense chief Gallant, participated in his election campaign. But after 11 years in office, Habib was defeated by a politician from Macron's party.
On Sunday, Meyer Habib, a French politician with close ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Likud figures, lost his seat in the French parliament that he had held for 11 years.
Habib has been considered a Netanyahu confidant for years, and was involved in various aspects of Israel's relations with France during Netanyahu's tenure as prime minister. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, all appeared in campaign videos for Habib, an unusual level of involvement by Israeli government figures in another country's election campaign.
Habib lost to Caroline Yadan, who is affiliated with French President Emmanuel Macron's party. She ran against him to represent France's eighth district – comprised of French citizens who live abroad, a category that includes tens of thousands of French voters in Israel. Yadan is considered to be pro-Israel, but she is not involved in Israeli internal politics, is not close to Netanyahu, and unlike Habib, did not come out against the French government's stance on the war in Gaza.
Habib was the person who connected Netanyahu with French businessman Arnaud Mimran, who claimed in 2016 to have illegally given Netanyahu one million euros. Mimran, a criminal serving time for his part in the "sting of the century," met Netanyahu through Habib and officially donated 40,000 euros to his election campaign. After Mimran made his claims about the illegal funding for Netanyahu, Habib said he regretted having introduced the two.
A 2021 Radio France investigative report by Frédéric Métézeau and Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps portrayed Habib as the "MP who whispers in Netanyahu's ear" and revealed the fact that Habib invested in various Israeli companies without reporting this to the French authorities, as required of MPs.
The report also uncovered the efforts made by Habib and people from Netanyahu's bureau to ensure that the MP would appear in a picture of Netanyahu, Macron and their wives during the French president's visit to Jerusalem in 2020. His presence there was not something to be expected, since Habib is not a very senior French lawmaker, and it was not clear what he would be doing there in a meeting between the two national leaders.
In the video that Netanyahu posted for Habib's campaign last month, the prime minister said that Habib "is doing something very important, not only for the Jewish people, but for humanity versus barbarism." Gérard Araud, the former French Ambassador to Israel and the U.S., called Habib's election defeat "excellent news."