‘Outpost of the West’
Seeking wider support for its policy of systematic violence, Israel’s far-right government expands cooperation with far-right parties across Europe – and attacks their antifascist opponents. But Berlin backs Tel Aviv out of self-interest.
TEL AVIV/BERLIN (our own report) – Israel’s far-right government is stepping up its cooperation with radical right-wing parties in Europe. The AfD, too, has become a potential ally. Following systematic efforts to build ties with parties affiliated to the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group in the EU – including France’s Rassemblement National (RN) and Belgium’s Vlaams Belang (VB) – Israeli ministers are now also reaching out to the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Israel’s Minister for the Diaspora, Amichai Chikli (Likud), for instance, has described a speech by FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, in which Kickl declared his party to be the “new protectors of Jewish interests” as an “historic turning point” in relations “between the FPÖ” and “the State of Israel”. Shortly after Germany’s last federal election, in February 2025, Chikli was talking up possibilities for cooperation with Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), provided it could distance itself from certain figures who have glorified Nazism. The deepening of relations with Europe’s far right accompanies Israel’s use of systematic violence to strengthen its power. Berlin, for its part, hopes to gain greater influence in the Middle East by supporting Tel Aviv. Those in Germany who speak out against their government’s involvement find themselves subjected to an unrestrained smear campaign in the public sphere.
Whitewashing war crimes
Efforts to deepen cooperation between far-right forces in Europe and those in Israel first took off over two decades ago – in Belgium in 2002. That was when Filip Dewinter, chief ideologist of the extremist Vlaams Blok (VB, now Vlaams Belang), approached the Jewish community in Antwerp, which was facing a wave of serious anti-Semitic attacks, and offered VB’s assistance, He called for a joint approach against violent Islamists. The aim was to rid the VB of its anti-Semitic reputation, thus making the party more acceptable as a potential coalition partner for conservative parties. The plan didn’t work. In 2005, Dewinter shifted his focus from Belgium’s Jewish community to the State of Israel. He announced that he was “interested in visiting Israel”.[1] As well as helping to shake off the – actually accurate – accusations of anti-Semitism levelled at the VB, this move had a strategic component. The “State of Israel” was, he said in 2005, “a sort of outpost of our Western society,” more specifically, it was an outpost against “the greatest threat to the West”, namely “radical fundamentalist Islam”.[2] Over the years, other far-right organisations in Europe likewise sought ties with Israel in the name of fighting Islam, but remained largely unsuccessful apart from isolated contacts with Israeli far-right figures and a handful of Likud politicians.[3]
Likud and the Patriots
However, relations between the far right in Europe and Israel have flourished since an ultra-right-wing coalition government came to power in Tel Aviv at the end of 2022. The new extremist bloc consists of Likud as well as the far-right parties Otzma Jehudit (Jewish Strength), led by Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Mafdal HaTzionut HaDatit (Religious Zionism), centred on Finance and Settlements Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) addressed the far-right CPAC Hungary conference [4] in April 2024 and attended the Europa Viva conference organised by the far-right Spanish party Vox in May 2024. In June 2024, ahead of the parliamentary elections in France, he gave his backing for the Rassemblement National (RN), a major far-right party. In February 2025, Likud was granted observer status within the Patriots for Europe (PfE) grouping at EU level, now comprising RN, Vox, Vlaams Belang and FPÖ.[5] In May 2025, Jair Netanyahu, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two sons, appeared at CPAC Hungary – alongside politicians from Vox, FPÖ and AfD, the latter being represented by its national chair, Alice Weidel. Finally, at the end of 2025, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, instructed his country’s diplomats in France, Spain and Sweden to establish direct contact with the major far-right parties: the RN, Vox and the Sweden Democrats.[6]
‘Combating antisemitism’
By this point, Israel’s extremist government had already begun officially inviting far-right parties from Europe to Israel. They have been attending events that have since been held annually under the title ‘International Conference on Combating Antisemitism’. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, under Chikli, has been the organiser of each gathering. Speakers at the first of these conferences, in March 2025, included Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Sa’ar, as well as Jordan Bardella of RN and Vox official Hermann Tertsch. Guests at the second conference included the leaders of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, and of Vox, Santiago Abascal. Just ahead of that conference, Netanyahu had personally received a delegation from Patriots for Europe (PfE) that included, alongside politicians from France (RN), Spain (Vox) and Hungary (Fidesz), the FPÖ MEP Harald Vilimsky. Vilimsky announced on the very same day that, for the first time in the history of the FPÖ, one of its politicians had been received “by the Israeli government”.[7] The FPÖ, like other PfE parties, stands in an historical tradition marked by collaboration with the Nazis. The conference at which Vilimsky was received in Jerusalem took place on 26–27 January 2026, coinciding with Holocaust Remembrance Day.
‘Protectors of Jewish interests’
Most recently, FPÖ chair Herbert Kickl made waves with a speech delivered at a PfE conference in the European Parliament on 16 September. Speaking on the topic of ‘Islamism and anti-Semitism’, and with several representatives of Likud taking part, Kickl claimed, “We are the new champions of Jewish interests.”[8] He said, “The unprecedented crime against humanity that is the Holocaust” must “never be forgotten”, adding that, “the fight against anti-Semitism” and “the struggle against anti-Zionism” should “form part of the programme of a federal government that I would like to lead” in Austria. Kickl also spoke positively about the de facto annexation of the West Bank. His speech was warmly welcomed by members of the Israeli government. Whilst Foreign Minister Sa’ar praised the speech,[9] Israel’s Minister for the Diaspora, Chikli, was quoted by FPÖ MEP Vilimsky as saying that it marked an “historic turning point in relations between the FPÖ, the State of Israel and the Jewish population” [10]. And Chikli had already stated, immediately after last year’s Bundestag election that, as far as Germany was concerned, the part taking the clearest stand against support for “anti-Israeli groups” was the AfD. If only it would distance itself from individual “voices” that, for example, downplay the role of the Waffen-SS, then cooperation with Israel was on the agenda.[11]
Geostrategic objectives
So Israel’s far-right government is systematically building cooperation with political extremists in Europe, whilst pursuing war, displacement and even genocide to strengthen its position of power in the Middle East through war and displacement. The German government is backing its ally by expanding military [12] and armaments cooperation [13]. In the context of upheavals shaking up the Middle East and countries increasingly seeking to free themselves from the once dominant Western influence, Israel is regarded as the most reliable partner. It is seen as an “outpost of the West” within the Arab-Islamic world that must be supported at all costs. The far right in Europe, which has for some time preferred to express its racism under the guise of a fight against Islam, is now regarded by the Israeli government as a potentially key partner.
A ruthless smear campaign
Both Israel’s far-right government and European governments are applying maximum pressure to stop the growing voices that oppose Israeli violence. These mostly left-wing or left-liberal forces, which call into question Europe’s almost unconditional pact with Israel, level clear criticism at the war on Gaza and the de facto annexation of the West Bank. Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, recently claimed that the election victory of Die Linke (The Left party) in the Berlin state election posed an “immediate existential threat” to the Jewish community in the capital. It must, he said, be a cause of grave concern to anyone who “cares about the continued existence of Jewish life in this city”. Within the Left Party, “completely unchecked anti-Semitism … has taken hold”.[14] Similarly wild claims are also coming from even mainstream German politicians and commentators. An academic study on the prevalence of anti-Semitic sentiment in Berlin’s political circles, published in February, indicates the falsehood of this criticism. Measuring various forms of anti-Semitism, the survey concluded that in circles characterised as “centre-left” or “far-left” between 2.8 and 8.4 per cent of respondents held anti-Semitic views. In circles described as ‘centre-right’ or ‘far-right’, the figure ranged from 19.7 to 48.8 per cent.[15] It is, however, the right-wing circles that prove useful to both the far-right Israeli government and Western political elites in their pursuit of key geostrategic objectives. So they are courted, despite revealing blatant anti-Semitism, while those on the left are subjected to a wild campaign of vilification.
[1], [2] Adi Schwartz: Between Haider and a Hard Place. haaretz.com 28.08.2005.
[3] Jörg Kronauer: Die Brandleger. Cologne 2026. pp. 157-168.
[4] See: „Das Zeitalter der Patrioten“.
[5] See: Guests in Israel.
[6] Andrea Nüsse: In Israel fällt die Brandmauer – Europas Rechtsextreme sind die neuen Verbündeten. tagesspiegel.de 22.03.2025.
[7] Jörg Kronauer: Die Brandleger. Cologne 2026. pp. 157-168.
[8] Oliver Grimm: FPÖ: „Wir sind die neuen Schutzherren für jüdische Interessenlagen“. diepresse.com 18.09.2026.
[9] Israels Außenminister lobt Kickl-Rede in Straßburg. orf.at 18.09.2026.
[10] Positive Reaktionen aus Israel nach Kickls Islamismus-Rede in Straßburg. fpoe.at 18.09.2026.
[11] Reaching out to Europe’s rising Right: Israel’s Diaspora Minister Chikli explains approach to German AfD party. allisrael.com 25.02.2025. See: Guests in Israel.
[12] See: Military cooperation with Israel.
[13] See: Arms cooperation with Israel.
[14] Israels Botschafter sieht jüdisches Leben in Berlin gefährdet. zeit.de 22.09.2026.
[15] Gert Pickel, Oliver Decker, Katrin Reimer-Gordinskaya: Der Berlin-Monitor 2025. Berlin – Zwischen demokratischer Haltung und verbreiteten Ressentiments. Berlin 2026.
