”The Netherlands and Great Britain are a nightmare for Jews,” said Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, citing an even worse case: ”Belgium is lost. I have asked the Jews there to leave.”

 

Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ‘’an enemy of the West and Israel.’’

‘’Sánchez has sided with Venezuela’s narco-terrorist Nicolás Maduro and the tyranny of Iran’s ayatollahs, and has allied himself with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon,’’ te minister said during an online briefing for journalists organized Tuesday by the Europe Israel Press Association (EIPA) and the America Middle East Press Association (AMEPA).

Chikli made it clear that Israel does not expect any progressin its relations with Spain  as long as the current Socialist leader who is in a coaltion with extreme-left Podemos party remains in power, focusing its strategy on a potential political shift in the country.

Both the Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli embassy in Madrid are currently being managed by chargés d’affaires as a result of the diplomatic tension between the two countries.

“We have zero expectations of Sánchez. We have nothing against the people of Spain. We do not view the Spanish people as a problem,” he told the journalists, adding that ‘’we see the lunatic, the clown, the joke, the enemy, who is in power and is irrelevant to Israel.’’  Spanish journalists consider his remarks as one of the harshest directed so far against the head of the Spanish government.

“We are watching to see who will come next and we hope for a much more friendly government in Spain,” Chikli stated, praising Israel’s “very good friends” in Spain,  specifically mentioning the Vox and the Partido Popular (PP).

The Israeli minister, who is a member of the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also addressed the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, a phenomenon that, as he explained, is of serious concern to Israel. He identified two main sources: the emergence of new radical organizations and the situation in countries such as Canada.

Chikli mentioned “Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia” as an emerging radical Islamist organization, to which he attributed recent attacks in European cities against Jewish sites such as in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, London and Liège. As he described it, the group displays symbols similar to those of Hezbollah or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

His ministry has produced a report which stresses that ‘’regardless of its final attribution, the mergence of Harakat Ashab al-Yaminal-Islamia highlights the increasing risk of proxy-enabled or digitally coordinated attacks targeting Jewish institutions in Europe.’’

He also warned of patterns that, in his view, are escalating: “When you start with the burning of synagogues or ambulances, we know what comes next,” he noted, comparing the situation to incidents that have occurred in Australia which culminated in the massacre of Bondi Beach.

He singled out Canada as a particularly concerning case, citing multiple attacks on synagogues in Toronto and suggesting links to groups aligned with the Iranian regime. As he explained, Israel has conveyed these concerns to Canadian authorities through formal communications.

The minister also drew a direct link between the rise in anti-Semitism and what he described as “weak progressive governments.” In his view, certain political decisions, such as recognizing a Palestinian state in the midst of the conflict or failing to condemn “radical Islam”, contribute to fueling this phenomenon.

“There is a clear correlation between weak progressive governments and the rise in anti-Semitism,” he stated, citing countries such as Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom as examples.

In contrast, he noted that in countries such as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, which have adopted more restrictive immigration policies, the number of incidents is very low.

On the contrary, he has praised countries such as “Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic” for their “immigration and security policies,” which he described as “an example to follow.” “I am not against immigration. I am aware that many Jews have saved their lives by emigrating, but what is unacceptable is uncontrolled Islamist immigratio,’’ Chikli said, giving as examples The Netherlands and Great Britain which, ‘’are a nightmare for Jews.’’ He cited an even worse case: “Belgium is lost: I have asked the Jews there to leave.”

“We don’t have time to waste. We are working with leaders who can identify the threat and challenge the threat of radical Islamism that has led to antisemitic terror attacks throughout Europe,” said Chikli mentioning the Vox in Spain and the Sweden Democrats considered as far-right parties.

He noted that Sweden Democrats chair Jimmie Åkesson participated in a two-day antisemitism conference in Jerusalem and spent extended time at Yad Vashem.  Accusations of Jew hatred directed toward him are “a joke,” he said..

He mentioned ther right-wing leaders, such as  Jordan Bardella of France and Marine Le Pen of Rassemblement National in France, who have distanced the party from the historic antisemitism associated with its recent past, calling them ”friends to Israel.”

However, he said,   not all right-wing parties are ”kosher” even though they are anti-Islam and anti-immigration such as the AfD (‘Alternative for Deutschland’) in Germany. ”They didn’t had a clear message regarding Hamas. We didn’t hear a clear message regarding Iran. We didn’t see them adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliam,ce (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.”

”We don’t have real ties with the AfD. It’s not that if you are against radical Islam, it’s enough,”  Chikli insisted.

Asked about the ongoing war against the Iranian regime, Chikli, who was a combat officer in the Israel Defense Forces and a teacher, explained that Israel is not surprised by Trump’s statements and his back-and-forth regarding the issues surrounding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that he does not see any logic in allowing this closure, but that the American president “has a broader perspective on everything than I do, and perhaps there are reasons that escape me.”

In the meantime, he said, Israel continues to carry out its military plans in Iran, which involve eliminating the ayatollahs’ missiles, whatever remains of their nuclear program, and “creating the conditions for the Iranian people to rise up against their oppressors.’’

“The military phase could last a few weeks, but regime change could come much later—in months or even a year,’’ he said. ‘The regime must be brought to an end not only for Israel’s security, but also for the people of Iran, for their freedom.”