Israel boosted Europe’s right wing — and recoils at German party’s gains
Washington Post
Washington Post
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While Israel seeks to strengthen ties with right-wing European parties, it expresses concern over the far-right Alternative for Germany's stunning electoral gains in Saxony-Anhalt, marking the first far-right victory in a German state election since the Holocaust.
Israel boosted Europe’s right wing — and recoils at German party’s gains - The Washington Post
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Israel boosted Europe’s right wing — and recoils at German party’s gains
Alternative for Germany is the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since the Holocaust, one Jewish group noted.
September 8, 2026 at 4:58 p.m. EDT
Today at 4:58 p.m. EDT
4 min
*Amichai Chikli, Israel's minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, is among the Israeli officials who have courted right-wing parties in Europe — though not in Germany or Austria. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)*
Middle EastChevron right
4 min
By
Lior Soroka
TEL AVIV — Some Israeli officials are expressing concern at the stunning electoral gains made by the far-right Alternative for Germany party on Sunday in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, but others have been conspicuously silent, reflecting the complex relationship between the Israeli government and the European right wing.
Some leaders in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, most notably Amichai Chikli, the minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, have courted France’s National Rally, Spain’s Vox, and right-wing parties in the Netherlands and Hungary that have opposed Muslim immigration and influence in Europe. But they’ve drawn a line at far-right parties in Germany and Austria, including AfD, citing their ties to neo-Nazism.
“In Israel, some believe the far right is the most natural or favorable partner one could imagine for Israel,” said Rémi Daniel, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
“In Germany, that is not the case,” Daniel said. “There are anti-Israel currents within the AfD, alongside troubling stances regarding Germany and its past.”
Jewish groups in Germany and around the world have warned about the rise of AfD and antisemitism. The party was leading Sunday’s election for the Saxony-Anhalt state legislature with 44.1 percent of the vote. The Christian Democratic Union, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was second with 17.1 percent.
The American Jewish Committee called it “a grim milestone”: “For the first time since the Holocaust, a far-right party has won a German state election.”
“When you see what they say and do, it’s a wake-up call for anyone who holds Jewish life in Germany dear,” Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador in Berlin, told Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday. “This is not a symbolic victory; this is a party aiming to rule Germany.”
AfD leaders have called for an arms embargo against Israel, Prosor noted.
In recent years, Netanyahu’s right-wing government has forged ties with other right-wing movements, and the Israeli premier campaigned for his ally in Hungary, Viktor Orban.
Chikli, a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party, has argued that “the real threat to European Jewry is radical Islam, not the political right.”
The historian Ariel Feldstein, however, called AfD’s rapid rise a “dilemma Israel cannot ignore.”
“From an Israeli perspective, one can even see an advantage in this,” Feldstein wrote in the right-leaning Israel Hayom newspaper. “The party campaigns against immigration and the Muslim presence in Germany. Some of its members voice support for Israel, and it is not among the European political forces that have made the war in Gaza the central test of their attitude toward us.”
But he warned of potential pitfalls. “Today, the Muslim immigrant is the ‘other,’” he wrote. “Many Israelis may understand that position. But when a society begins asking who truly belongs, who is a foreigner and who poses a threat to its identity, Jews have good reason to listen carefully.”
Israeli officials are also concerned about the rise of far-left parties in Germany and possible cooperation between the AfD and the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — Reason and Justice party.
“Potential collaboration between the AfD and the BSW, both of which hold extreme positions toward Israel, could pose a problem for Israel,” Daniel said. “For now, these are local elections, so they won’t directly affect Germany’s foreign policy toward Israel. But it serves as a litmus test.”
“Germany looks to the right,” Prosor wrote on X. “It must not be blind in its left eye.
“The danger of right-wing extremism is obvious. It is discussed, named, and condemned. Left-wing antisemitism deserves exactly the same clarity.”
Jews in Germany are fearful of the changes taking place in the country, Prosor told Israeli Army Radio. “You see extremism from both the right and the left; antisemitism is antisemitism, regardless of its political origin.”
---
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WorldMiddle EastAfricaAmericasAsiaEurope
WorldMiddle EastAfricaAmericasAsiaEurope
Israel boosted Europe’s right wing — and recoils at German party’s gains
Alternative for Germany is the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since the Holocaust, one Jewish group noted.
September 8, 2026 at 4:58 p.m. EDT
Today at 4:58 p.m. EDT
4 min
*Amichai Chikli, Israel's minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, is among the Israeli officials who have courted right-wing parties in Europe — though not in Germany or Austria. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)*
Middle EastChevron right
4 min
By
Lior Soroka
TEL AVIV — Some Israeli officials are expressing concern at the stunning electoral gains made by the far-right Alternative for Germany party on Sunday in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, but others have been conspicuously silent, reflecting the complex relationship between the Israeli government and the European right wing.
Some leaders in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, most notably Amichai Chikli, the minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, have courted France’s National Rally, Spain’s Vox, and right-wing parties in the Netherlands and Hungary that have opposed Muslim immigration and influence in Europe. But they’ve drawn a line at far-right parties in Germany and Austria, including AfD, citing their ties to neo-Nazism.
“In Israel, some believe the far right is the most natural or favorable partner one could imagine for Israel,” said Rémi Daniel, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
“In Germany, that is not the case,” Daniel said. “There are anti-Israel currents within the AfD, alongside troubling stances regarding Germany and its past.”
Jewish groups in Germany and around the world have warned about the rise of AfD and antisemitism. The party was leading Sunday’s election for the Saxony-Anhalt state legislature with 44.1 percent of the vote. The Christian Democratic Union, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was second with 17.1 percent.
The American Jewish Committee called it “a grim milestone”: “For the first time since the Holocaust, a far-right party has won a German state election.”
“When you see what they say and do, it’s a wake-up call for anyone who holds Jewish life in Germany dear,” Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador in Berlin, told Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday. “This is not a symbolic victory; this is a party aiming to rule Germany.”
AfD leaders have called for an arms embargo against Israel, Prosor noted.
In recent years, Netanyahu’s right-wing government has forged ties with other right-wing movements, and the Israeli premier campaigned for his ally in Hungary, Viktor Orban.
Chikli, a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party, has argued that “the real threat to European Jewry is radical Islam, not the political right.”
The historian Ariel Feldstein, however, called AfD’s rapid rise a “dilemma Israel cannot ignore.”
“From an Israeli perspective, one can even see an advantage in this,” Feldstein wrote in the right-leaning Israel Hayom newspaper. “The party campaigns against immigration and the Muslim presence in Germany. Some of its members voice support for Israel, and it is not among the European political forces that have made the war in Gaza the central test of their attitude toward us.”
But he warned of potential pitfalls. “Today, the Muslim immigrant is the ‘other,’” he wrote. “Many Israelis may understand that position. But when a society begins asking who truly belongs, who is a foreigner and who poses a threat to its identity, Jews have good reason to listen carefully.”
Israeli officials are also concerned about the rise of far-left parties in Germany and possible cooperation between the AfD and the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — Reason and Justice party.
“Potential collaboration between the AfD and the BSW, both of which hold extreme positions toward Israel, could pose a problem for Israel,” Daniel said. “For now, these are local elections, so they won’t directly affect Germany’s foreign policy toward Israel. But it serves as a litmus test.”
“Germany looks to the right,” Prosor wrote on X. “It must not be blind in its left eye.
“The danger of right-wing extremism is obvious. It is discussed, named, and condemned. Left-wing antisemitism deserves exactly the same clarity.”
Jews in Germany are fearful of the changes taking place in the country, Prosor told Israeli Army Radio. “You see extremism from both the right and the left; antisemitism is antisemitism, regardless of its political origin.”
---
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