David Rachline (born 2 December 1987) is a French politician for

National Rally The National Rally (, , RN), known as the National Front from 1972 to 2018 (, , FN), is a French far-right politics, far-right political party, described as right-wing populist and French nationalism, nationalist. It is the single largest Nat ...

. He was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

in March 2014 and elected to the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

in September 2014.

Early life and education

David Rachline was born the son of socialist activist Serge Rachline, whose

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

grandparents had migrated to France from Ukraine. David Rachline claims his non-Jewishness, because he was not

circumcised Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

, did not to have

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

, and his father was a "non-observant" Jew. He defines himself as

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

. Rachline graduated with a baccalaureate in "accounting" and dropped law studies at age 18. to devote himself to the party.

Political career

Rachline has stated that he was interested in political and militant action, before he joined the

Front national The National Rally (, , RN), known as the National Front from 1972 to 2018 (, , FN), is a French far-right politics, far-right political party, described as right-wing populist and French nationalism, nationalist. It is the single largest Nat ...

. In 2002, he joined the Front national, at the age of 15, "extremely motivated by the arrival of Jean-Marie Le Pen" in the second round of the

2002 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 21 April 2002, with a runoff election between the top two candidates, incumbent Jacques Chirac of the Rally for the Republic and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Ra ...

. In 2006, he became president of the Var section of the "Génération nation" (Front national youth organization), as well as of the "Jeunes avec Le Pen", and went through "Génération Le Pen", the movement of

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

. He actively participated in her 2007 presidential campaignDavid Rachline, le jeune qui monte au Front
, ''europe1.fr'', 30 March 2014. with Farid Smahi, he organized the arrival of Jean-Marie Le Pen on the slab of

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

(also known as “Operation Asperge”), where

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

had made controversial comments about “Kärcher” and “scum” in 2005. He was also an alternate candidate in the 2007 French parliamentary elections and elected to the FN Central Committee in 2007. He was affected by Catherine Mégret, then mayor of

Vitrolles, Bouches-du-Rhône Vitrolles (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France, located about 20.6 km (12.8 mi) from Marseille. It is the largest suburb of the city of Aix-en-Provence a ...

when she set up a birth allowance in the amount of 5000 Francs (€762) for children of French parents or European Union nationals, a measure which he supported in 2008. In 2009, he took over the leadership of the National Youth Front and held this post until 2011. In the

2014 French municipal elections The French municipal elections of 2014 were held on 23 March of that year with a second round of voting, where necessary, on 30 March to elect the municipal councils of France's communes. The first task of each newly constituted municipal council ...

, Rachline was elected

of Fréjus after having obtained 40.30% of the votes in the first round and 45.55% in the second round. In the French Senate election in September 2014, he was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, becoming together with Stéphane Ravier the first senators from National Rally (then known as Front National).Ravier et Rachline deviennent les premiers sénateurs FN de la Ve République
Le Monde. 28 September 2014

References

External links

David Rachline's blogPortrait of David Rachline by ''Les Inrocks''(26 October 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rachline, David 1987 births Living people French people of Jewish descent People from Fréjus Mayors of places in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur National Rally politicians Senators of Var (department)