Israel's strange embrace of far-right European politicians

Two events make clear how accepting Israel has become of Europe's far right, despite many Jews accusing it of anti-Semitism

From left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Jordan Bardella, the head of France’s National Rally party. AFP

In a little under a week, Israel's increasingly close relationship with Europe's far right has been thrown into stark relief, drawing condemnation from across the Jewish world.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Hungary to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a leader in the vanguard of Europe's far right. Despite Mr Orban facing accusations of playing off anti-Semitic tropes to appeal to his base and denying anti-Jewish hate in his country's history, Mr Netanyahu openly praises the Hungarian leader.

Since coming into office, Mr Netanyahu has congratulated him for "moral clarity". In 2018, he called Mr Orban a "true friend of Israel".

The trip is the latest episode to highlight the strained relationship between Israel and many traditionally staunchly supportive groups and allies abroad, who are increasingly uncomfortable at the direction of the country’s politics, which for more than two years has been defined by Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition. This is all happening as Jewish communities around the globe report an increase in anti-Semitism since the Gaza war began.

Less than a week before his departure, the Prime Minister was the star of one the most controversial gatherings of his coalition's tenure: a conference in Jerusalem to combat anti-Semitism. Attendees who were patient enough to endure a lengthy and intrusive security screening heard from Israel’s leadership that they are doing no less than saving western civilisation from barbarians.

After fiery addresses from founders of alternative media channels on X, pro-Israel journalists and Christian pastors, Mr Netanyahu took to the stage to express some of the strongest words of the day. “Thank you for standing with the forces of civilisation against the forces of barbarism,” he said.

“I say barbarism, because anti-Semitism is a disease carried by barbarians that threaten all civilised societies,” he added, railing against the enemies Israel has been fighting across the Middle East since the Gaza war began. “These anti-Semites wish to destroy not only the Jewish state. They seek to destroy the forces of modernity, and the Arab and Muslim world, they seek to drag it back to a primitive and violent medievalism.”

Jordan Bardella, right, at the conference in Jerusalem to combat anti-Semitism. AFP

But it was not so much the Prime Minister's words that were striking, but rather to whom he was saying them. In the audience were a number of far-right European politicians, some of whose parties have origins in the Nazi era.

Their number included Jordan Bardella, the head of France’s National Rally, whose co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen worked alongside early members that included members of the Waffen SS and militiamen belonging to the collaborationist Vichy regime.

One attendee, Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik, even had an international arrest warrant issued against him by a Bosnian court for attacking the constitutional order when he was in Israel for the event. He dismissed the warrant, telling AP during the conference that “the Muslims from Sarajevo want to punish me because I came here to Israel supporting Israel”.

Mr Bardella, the highest-profile foreign politician in attendance, delivered a keynote address in which he was emphatic in his support for Israel. He said his party was “the best shield” for France’s Jewish community, the largest in Europe and the second-largest globally. He also said anti-Zionism “is nothing more than an alibi for anti-Semitism” and called for France to take tougher action to fight growing anti-Jewish hate.

But no support from the far-right was strong enough to stop a wave of high-profile boycotts of the event, even from ardently pro-Israel groups, driven by disquiet over who was on the guest list. Organised by the Israeli Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the event was supposed to include the Chief Rabbi of the UK, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance heads and German officials in charge of fighting anti-Semitism, all of whom eventually withdrew.

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in Jerusalem. AFP

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli defended the guest list, arguing that invitations were sent to a broad group of political parties and that the far-right European parties in question, with their anti-immigration and anti-Islam policies, protect Jews in Europe, while offering Israel unwavering support in the Gaza war. On the day of the conference, Israeli outlet Haaretz, which was attacked directly at the event by panellists, wrote an editorial with the title: How anti-Semites got invited to an anti-Semitism conference.

“The fact that Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will attend the conference and that its guest of honour will be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, makes it official: not only is Israel not protecting the world's Jews from anti-Semitism, it encourages it by officially favouring its relations with the far right over its relations with the diaspora,” it concluded.

Israeli pollster and analyst Dahlia Scheindlin told The National that while the event might be “strange” for the Israeli public, “there is a long tradition in Israel of making common cause with unsavoury leaders, based on shared interests”.

“The flirtation between Netanyahu and the Holocaust apologist far right, such as Poland under Law and Justice, or Viktor Orban who flirts with anti-Semitism, is not new,” she added. “The conference seems like another deplorable step but it's part of a pattern, not breaking the mould. I imagine the diaspora is simply mystified and horrified.”

Since the Gaza war began, Israeli leaders have also been driven into the arms of western far-right counterparts for their disdain of international courts. These politicians, unlike their mainstream European counterparts, feel no need to even pay lip service to the importance of such institutions.

Thursday’s conference included frequent attacks on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), the latter of which has issued an arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu, as well as former defence minister Yoav Gallant. Mr Saar said that after failing to wipe out Israel in battle, “the radical Islamist world, led by Iran … pivoted to a new weapon: legal warfare”.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AFP

“We see this in the anti-Semitic actions of the ICC, ICJ and the United Nations Human Rights Council,” he said. “These institutions were created to promote justice and make the world safer. Instead, they have become tools for those wishing to erase the Jewish state.”

Indeed, mirroring Mr Dodik’s situation, Mr Netanyahu's Hungary trip is being viewed as an expression of defiance against his international warrant. It will be his first trip to Europe since it was issued last year. Hungary is a signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning it should in theory take Mr Netanyahu into custody on arrival, but Mr Orban has rejected the court's action.

Coming less than a week after the conference, both events make clear that Israel’s ever-closer relationship with the European far right is getting stronger. Whether it is a process driven by the Netanyahu coalition’s embrace of extremist politics or a sign of a deeper acceptance in Israeli society of questionable partners as long as they are staunchly anti-Islamist and pro-Israel, remains to be seen.