By Tomas Sandell
Several high profile leaders in the pro-Israel community, among them Labour peer Lord Mann and former German Green MP Volker Beck, have according to news reports decided to boycott the upcoming International Conference on Combating Antisemitism which will take place in Jerusalem next Wednesday and Thursday.
The reason for withdrawing is that several Members of Parliament from the far-right will be speaking at the conference. This raises a serious question. Is their concern really about the combat against antisemitism or do they have another agenda?
For a layman the logic for combating antisemitism appears to be quite simple and straight forward. The more people who want to stand with the Jewish people at this critical time and together combat antisemitism the better. Furthermore, the broader and politically more diverse this group of friends is, the more effective.
Apparently not. The protesters who have their political home on the political left have decided to target those on the political right who they consider disqualified to stand with the Jews. Instead of expressing their concerns over the decline of support for Israel in their own ranks, that is among the progressive left, they try to discredit those who have chosen to speak out publicly for Israel and as a consequence have been invited to the conference.
Now imagine if those on the political right would be equally intolerant. They could have their own doubts about whether the progressives are really sincere in their support for Israel since most of them have been quiet after October 7. Why is it then not the right which is boycotting the left and not the other way around?
A recent survey conducted by the reputable research institute EU-matrix in Brussels in the spring of 2024, measuring how the 160 political parties represented in the European Parliament have voted in relation to Israel, leaves little to interpretation. The results are clear. The more to the right the parties are the more pro-Israel, with the exceptions of fringe parties like the Golden Dawn in Greece which are not part of any of the existing groups. The party with the highest ranking, 98,74 % of votes in favour of Israel is the Vox party in Spain. The very same party should according to the protestors be disqualified from speaking in Jerusalem. The same is true for number 3 in the ranking, Sweden Democrats with 95,90. They should not be welcomed either. Get the logic?
The progressives can have their own reasons for disliking the parties on the far right, but lack of support for Israel cannot be one. The conference in Jerusalem is about this topic and not about green transition or European federalism.
Although there has been a reshuffling of parties in the new European parliament, the trend is still clear. Those on the far right, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) were the most pro-Israel while the largest block, the centre-right EPP scores a respectable 68,20. But when you go further left, the scores go down. The Socialists (S&D) are down on 37,60 and the Greens on 31,49. Only the Left are doing worse on 11,52. Subsequently, those who are expressing their concern about having parties who represent the most pro-Israel stances in the European Parliament come themselves from the S&D and the Greens. Why are their colleagues not supporting Israel?
These are questions that honest progressives should be asking themselves. Is it more profitable to appease the violent anti-Israel crowds on the streets of Europe than to proudly stand with Israel? Being openly pro-Israel is perhaps not so chic if one has to share the platform with the despicable from the other side of the aisle? But wait a minute. Combating antisemitism should be a cross-party commitment, not a niche issue either for the right or the left.
Which brings us back to the core question. Is there antisemitism on the political right today? Absolutely yes. During the Holocaust memorial in the European Parliament an extreme right wing Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun interrupted the solemn event by shouting about a Jewish genocide in Gaza. Luckily, MEP Braun is not part of any of the political groups in the European Parliament. If he would be a member of any of the right wing groups which are now under scrutiny there would obviously be a problem. But this is not the case.
Still, anyone who cares deeply about the future of the Jewish people need to pay close attention to what right wing media pundits in the US like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owen are saying. Jordan Bardella would agree since he recently boycotted a CIPAC conference in Washington DC in protest of the fact that Tucker Carlson was given a platform. The party which he represents, the French National Rally, decided earlier this year to part way with the German AFD because of their right-wing radicalism. But according to Lord Mann and Mr Beck he is still not welcome in Jerusalem.
Bottom line is this. If we believe – as I do – that there is antisemitism also on the political right, we need to applaud those who are not afraid to point this out and are drawing a red line against this Jew hatred. They should be the first to be welcomed in to the pro-Israel community and not the first to be expelled.
Tomas Sandell is the Founding Director of the European Coalition for Israel.