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

National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...

. He was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 54,458. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one urban agglomeration. The north of ...

in March 2014 and elected to the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) 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. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

in September 2014.

Early life and education

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

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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

circumcised Circumcision is a surgical procedure, 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 ...

, did not to have Bar Mitzvah, and his father was a "non-observant" Jew. He defines himself as

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

. Rachline bragduated 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 (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...

. 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 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 Front, on 5 May. This presidential ...

. In 2006, he became president of the

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

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. 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. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

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 (; oc, Vitròla) 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-e ...

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 i ...

, 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 (France) politicians French nationalists Senators of Var (department)