UK chief rabbi leaves Israeli antisemitism conference over participation of 'far-right populist politicians'

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis on Monday joined several prominent figures in cancelling planned appearances in the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, which will take place in Israel next week, due to the participation of “far-right populist politicians.”

Mirvis’ office confirmed that once he was “made aware of the attendance of a number of far-right populist politicians,” Britain’s chief rabbi reportedly decided that he would  “no longer be attending.”

Several other officials have also decided to pull out of the conference in protest against the presence of what they perceive as far-right European politicians. 

These include French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was to give the opening speech, as well as Germany’s antisemitism czar Felix Klein and Volker Beck, the president of the German-Israeli Society.

The British politician and antisemitism adviser Lord John Mann also decided to boycott the conference. “The quality of some of the opposition politicians speaking is not sufficiently high enough to entice me from competing priorities,” Mann argued.

“There is nothing for the UK to learn about tackling antisemitism from some of these characters."

Professor David Hirsh from Goldsmiths University also decided to pull out of the conference due to the same reasons. "I was due to participate in the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, organized by the Israeli Diaspora Ministry on 26 and 27 March, but I have now reluctantly decided to pull out,” Hirsh stated. 

“There are too many far-right speakers on the agenda who associate themselves with anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian movements,” he continued. 

"It is clear to me that anti-democratic thinking is fertile ground for antisemitism and that the best way to undermine antisemitism is to support democratic thinking, movements, and states,” Hirsh said. 

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who is heading the conference, is facing international criticism for his decision to invite controversial European politicians like the French right-wing leader Jordan Bardella, the Spanish European Parliament member Herman Tertsch and the French European parliament member Marion Marechal. 

Furthermore, there is also domestic Israeli criticism against the decision to invite controversial European populist lawmakers. 

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Diaspora Minister Chikli and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Knesset Aliyah and Absorption Committee chairman MK Gilad Kariv (Democrats) called for disinviting the right-wing European politicians, which he described as a “deviation from the longstanding policy of Israeli governments and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it directly contradicts the positions and policies of the representative organizations of Jewish communities in those countries and on the international stage.”

The Jewish state has until recently avoided official contacts with European right-wing populist lawmakers whose parties have traditionally often been associated with antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.

However, several European right-wing parties in Sweden, Spain, France and Italy are increasingly advocating pro-Israel policies and view radical Islam as a threat to both Israel and the free Western world. 

In February, the Israeli minister Chikli reached out to populist conservative European lawmakers. 

“Antisemitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration,” Chikli explained as he addressed the 50th annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem. 

“The European right-wing parties have a point because they realize the problem and are presenting a solution,” he said. 

While far-right antisemitism still exists at the fringes of Western societies, many European Jews increasingly argue that the main current antisemitic threat emanates from radical Islamic and far-left circles.