How Israel’s far right is courting European populist, nationalist parties
Nationalist Israeli politicians have been reaching out to conservative and populist parties in Europe since Oct. 7.
PARIS — Following the Oct. 7 Hamas assault, far-right Israeli politicians have been seeking out contact and even cooperation with European far-right and populist parties despite the jingoistic and antisemitic history of these groups that previously made them extremely unlikely allies of an Israeli government.
Many of these European parties have expressed over the past five months support of Israel and its battle against Hamas in Gaza.
One example is Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the anti-immigration PVV party who won the November elections. Over the years, Wilders has expressed his support for and even affinity with Israel, especially since the attack by Hamas. Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Wilders in Amsterdam March 11, when he came to the Netherlands for the inauguration of the new Holocaust memorial museum there.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, traveled to Hungary on March 12 and met with several ministers and senior officials from the party of Prime Minister Victor Orban, whom he applauded for battling antisemitism in the country.
