‘Radical Islam is main threat to Europe’s Jews’ – Controversy over antisemitism conference continues

Israel’s Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli hit back at a torrent of criticism and cancellations over invitations of European right-wing leaders to an antisemitism conference set to take place in Jerusalem next week.

“I reject the claim that right-wing parties are the primary threat to Jewish life in Europe,” Chikli said during an interview with Israel Hayom.

Most high-profile European guests canceled their planned appearances at the conference after being told that several right-wing leaders would also attend.

The invitees who caused most of the criticism are two French politicians: Jordan Bardella who is the president of the National Rally Party, whose founder Jean-Marie Le Pen was a convicted Holocaust denier; and his granddaughter Marion Maréchal, a Member of the European Parliament.

Chikli pointed out that Bardella “demanded clarifications in the European Union about UNRWA’s ties to Hamas and spoke out against a Palestinian state post-Oct. 7. He and Marine Le Pen condemned the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. Marine Le Pen also expelled her father from the party, and he was indeed an Israel-hater.”

In addition, representatives of several other right-wing parties, like the Spanish Vox and the Sweden Democrats, are due to attend the conference.

Among the prominent figures who have pulled out by now are French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was set to give the opening speech, Germany’s antisemitism czar Felix Klein, the president of the German-Israeli Society Volker Beck, Great Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, and Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League.

Chikli has led an effort to reach out to Europe’s rising right-wing parties, many of which are vocally pro-Israel but are being boycotted by the local Jewish communities, and in turn, were boycotted by Israel until recently.

The diaspora minister argues that these parties, with some of whom he still refuses to establish relations, are not the main threat to Europe’s Jews. “The threat is different: radical Islam. Advocates of political correctness struggle to acknowledge this and are stuck 50 years in the past,” he told Israel Hayom.

He told the newspaper that whoever is supporting the State of Israel should be welcomed here.

“How can we boycott people attending a conference against antisemitism in Israel? All these boycotters are delegitimizing the people who support us the most. It’s a terrible injustice.”

“Among Diaspora Jews, there is more than one opinion. There’s the CRIF (the umbrella organization of French Jewry), but there are others too. I don’t claim to speak for all Diaspora Jews, nor do I accept the notion that they are all a monolithic progressive bloc against Trump and Bardella,” Chikli said.

Part of the disconnect between Israel and Jews in the diaspora stems from their left-wing political stance at home, which dictates their positions vis-à-vis the right-wing parties.

Chikli emphasized that such parties, many of which indeed have far-right and even Nazi roots, should be judged on their current actions and statements.

“In Europe, we fight to keep extremist parties out of the mainstream, yet in Israel, politicians invite them, mistakenly believing these parties support Israel. They do not,” charged Ariel Muzicant (73), president of the European Jewish Congress and vice president of the World Jewish Congress, in an interview with Ynet News.

“I just think the State of Israel needs to look at the bigger picture and balance the interests of Jewish communities with those of Israel. In my view, the most severe challenge to Jewish communities in Europe is radical Islam,” said Chikli.

“It wasn’t Dutch people who attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv fans or French people who raped a Jewish woman in a forest near Paris—it was Muslim immigrants committing these acts while supporting Hamas and the Palestinians.”

“The overwhelming majority of violent incidents worldwide are carried out by Islamists, and in Europe, there’s a very weak leadership that endangers not only Europe’s future but also its Jewish communities,” the minister stressed.

Meanwhile, he also pointed out that the traditional, mainstream parties have been disappointing regarding their support for Israel.

“When I look at Emmanuel Macron from an Israeli perspective, he’s a huge disappointment. He’s a very weak figure, and I don’t see him as a leader. On the ICC issue, he didn’t say a word, nor on UNRWA. When we resume fighting, he attacks us,” Chikli said.

In conclusion, he predicted that public opinion in Israel would shift in their favor after Israelis got to know these leaders.

“Regarding Bardella, who caused such an uproar, I believe that after he visits Israel, citizens here will see his love for Israel and realize that, just as they were told Milei, Geert Wilders, and Trump are far-right, these are empty threats here too.”