For Jewish communities in France and beyond, this shift is not merely uncomfortable; it is existentially destabilizing
Israel’s growing engagement with Europe’s far-right movements is no longer an isolated anomaly, it is becoming a pattern. The invitation of Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally (RN), to the Ministry of Diaspora’s upcoming conference on antisemitism, is just the latest chapter in an unsettling realignment. Far from being a tactical maneuver, this shift risks betraying the very values Israel claims to uphold and jeopardizing Jewish communities across Europe.
For decades, Israel positioned itself as the unwavering guardian of Jewish safety worldwide, a moral force against antisemitism in all its forms. Yet today, we see a growing willingness to engage with parties that, not long ago, were political pariahs for their associations with Holocaust revisionism, ultranationalism, and xenophobia. The justification is always the same: these parties claim to have changed, they now support Israel, and they are aligned in the fight against Islamist extremism. But at what cost?
The RN, despite its rhetorical makeover, remains the ideological successor to the Front National, a party founded by Holocaust deniers and admirers of the Vichy regime. While Bardella and Marine Le Pen have sought to sanitize its image, the party remains a magnet for nationalist fervor, authoritarian tendencies, and a brand of politics that has historically endangered Jewish communities. For Israel to extend a hand to the RN is to ignore the deep wounds that this movement has inflicted on French Jewry, a community that has spent decades resisting its encroachment.
The consequences of this decision extend far beyond diplomatic optics. For Jewish communities in France and beyond, Israel’s embrace of the far right is not merely uncomfortable; it is existentially destabilizing. For years, Jewish leaders have warned against the rise of these movements, working to keep them at bay in national politics. Now, they find themselves trapped in a contradiction: how can they continue to reject these parties when Israel, the Jewish state, grants them legitimacy? This erosion of moral clarity weakens the fight against antisemitism at home and leaves European Jewish institutions politically disoriented.
Even more alarming is the unintended boon this provides to antisemites of all stripes. Far-left activists and Islamist radicals, who have long accused Jewish communities of complicity with reactionary forces, will exploit this moment to drive their message further into mainstream discourse. Conspiracy theorists will gleefully point to Israel’s engagement with figures like Bardella as “proof” of their most insidious accusations. Rather than diminishing antisemitism, Israel may be fueling it.
This pattern is not confined to France. From Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to Austria’s Freedom Party, Israel has steadily courted European nationalist leaders whose records on antisemitism are, at best, questionable. The message this sends is clear: as long as you pledge support for Israel, past antisemitic dog whistles, alliances with neo-fascists, and crackdowns on democratic freedoms can be overlooked. This transactional approach may yield short-term diplomatic gains, but it fundamentally undermines Israel’s credibility as a champion of Jewish safety and democratic values.
Israeli leaders must ask themselves whether this strategy truly serves Jewish interests. Is the fight against antisemitism really best served by aligning with those who have spent decades stoking it? Does strengthening ties with the European far right make Israel safer, or does it risk alienating the Jewish communities that have long been its strongest advocates?
The danger in this approach is clear: by pursuing political convenience over principle, Israel is playing a perilous game that could endanger not just European Jewry, but the moral foundations upon which it was built.