Israeli officials have invited European far-right parties to participate in an antisemitism conference held in Jerusalem
by Ana Vračar
March 27, 2025
Representatives from a host of European far-right parties, many affiliated with the Patriots for Europe bloc, are currently attending the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem, at the invitation of Israeli officials. Their participation has offended many of the attendees with firmly Zionist credentials, some of whom withdrew in response.
Among those present are French MEPs Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, and Marion Maréchal of Identity-Liberties, joined by delegates from far-right formations in Spain, Sweden, Hungary, and the Netherlands. While no invitation has been extended to the Alternative for Germany or Austria’s Freedom Party this time, recent signals from Israeli officials suggest that rapprochement with these groups is not completely off the table.
A direct line from 20th-century fascism to today
Today’s European far-right parties maintain strong historical ties to 20th-century fascist movements, although they have put a lot of effort in airbrushing that fact from public memory. The National Rally and its predecessors have long accommodated Holocaust deniers and denialist propagandists, while parties like Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy evolved directly from formations launched by members of Italy’s post-war fascist movements – the same people that facilitated the murder of millions of Jews, communists, Roma, and LGBTQ+ people during World War II.
The newer generation of far-right leaders has made ritualistic gestures toward distancing themselves from these crimes, but the substance of their politics has not changed. What has changed is the primary target of these politics: European far-right parties are now channeling their energies in anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia, which makes them perfect allies for the Israeli government, engaged in a genocidal war on Palestinians.
Maréchal illustrated this very clearly as she prepared for the conference and a related field trip called “Southern Tour – Gaza Envelope”, near the site of the 2023 Nova Festival. “Same enemies. Same flags of terror. Same ideology,” she stated. “For Israel, as for France, Islamism is an existential threat.”
Bardella has made similar statements in the lead-up to and surrounding the event. He claimed that a growing number of members of France’s Jewish community are turning to the National Rally in response to burgeoning antisemitism – for which he blamed Muslims and the “far left.”
The European far right and Zionist groups have also found common ground in attacking the left as it organized in solidarity with Palestine over the past year and a half. In France, their main target remains France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI), whose members continue to advocate for peace and justice.
Among the most recent figures to come under attack is LFI MEP Rima Hassan, who has faced a coordinated smear campaign for her pro-Palestine stance and her Palestinian background. Still, the far right’s vilification of the left is not taking root so easily. In fact, in France, members of the Jewish community have continued to join LFI-led protests, demanding an end to racism and fascism, reminding everyone that the real home of antisemitism is still the far right.
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