PARIS: After a past marked by anti-Semitism, far-right parties now often portray themselves as defenders of Jews, but critics accuse them of shifting their stance solely for political gain.
Last month several far-right leaders travelled to Israel for a government-organised conference on combating anti-Semitism.
They included Jordan Bardella, president of France's National Rally; Kinga Gal, an MEP for Hungary's Fidesz party and Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnia's Serb-dominated territory Republika Srpska, who is an ally of Vladimir Putin and wanted by Interpol.
“Hatred of Jews and the state of Israel is a global scourge that we must fight relentlessly,“ Bardella said, repeating his party’s new mantra that the National Rally (RN) “is today the best shield for our compatriots of Jewish faith”.
Such statements stand in stark contrast to views expressed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the RN under its former name the National Front, who famously called the Holocaust “a detail of the history of World War II”.
His daughter Marine Le Pen, who pushed him out of the party as part of her reform drive, marked her distance from her father “concerning all forms of anti-Semitism“, said Nonna Mayer, a political scientist at France’s CNRS research body.
Marine Le Pen, who now heads her party’s parliamentary group, had already embarked on a policy dubbed “de-demonisation” when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
The assault presented the RN with an “unexpected opportunity to exploit anti-Semitism so they could position themselves as the defenders of Jews in France and Israel”, Mayer said.
'Zero tolerance', 'safe space'
Similar rhetoric is heard elsewhere in Europe among identity-based right-wing parties, for whom immigration into Europe is a top policy issue.
In Hungary, President Viktor Orban promotes what he calls a “zero-tolerance” policy toward anti-Semitism and boasts of offering the “safest lands in Europe” for Jews.
In Germany, Beatrix von Storch -- a parliament member for the far-right AfD party and the granddaughter of Adolf Hitler's finance minister -- has promised Jews a “safe space” should her party win power.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in January accused the fascist government of Benito Mussolini of “complicity” in the Holocaust, calling the fight against anti-Semitism “in all its forms, past or present” a priority for her government.
Mayer said the policy shift across European far-right parties was linked to them seeing Islamism as “the number-one peril”.
“The fear of Islamism brings them all together,“ she said.
“Or perhaps, for some, it is simply about Islam and Muslims in general.”
In Jerusalem, Bardella said there was “a link” between “the rise of Islamism, the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and the migratory phenomenon that is splitting all Western societies”.
However, not all rank-and-file followers of far-right parties have adopted their leaders' support of Jews.
“Among National Rally sympathisers the change is far from complete,“ said Mayer.
The same goes for Italy, where several members of Meloni's far-right Fratelli d'Italia party have been accused of making anti-Semitic statements.
'Anti-Muslim feelings'
The new trend among far-right leaders is, meanwhile, sparking mixed reactions among Jews themselves.
Serge Klarsfeld, a French Holocaust survivor who became famous for hunting down former Nazis, said before France’s parliamentary election in 2024 that he would vote “without hesitation” for the RN over the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, which has been accused of sympathising with Islamists.
But Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, has accused Bardella of “politically exploiting” the fight against anti-Semitism as part of the RN’s strategy “to win power”.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany meanwhile urged voters not to back the country's main far-right party, saying that “the only function of Jews in the AfD's platform is to express anti-Muslim feelings in the party”.
A similar debate exists in the United States, where President Donald Trump serves as a model for many European far-right figures.
In the name of combating anti-Semitism, the Trump administration has overseen the arrest of pro-Palestinian students and cut $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard, a prestigious university.
Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told the New York Times this month she was doubtful about the motivation behind the administration's push to combat anti-Semitism.
“It’s about exploiting concerns about anti-Semitism to undermine democracy,“ she said.
