Criticism of Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s decision to host far-right European politicians at an official conference to combat antisemitism grew on Monday, as prominent Jewish leaders withdrew from the conference, with some issuing sharp criticism.
The conference, called “The International Conference on Combating Antisemitism,” is scheduled for March 26-27.
Participants include Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right French National Rally party; Marion Marechal, a French member of the European Parliament and former National Rally member; Hermann Tertsch, a Spanish member of the European Parliament representing the Vox party; Swedish politician Charlie Weimers; and Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska.
Key figures who pulled out were UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, UK politician and antisemitism adviser Lord John Mann, Goldsmiths University professor David Hirsh, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, and German antisemitism czar Felix Klein.
“The quality of some of the opposition politicians speaking is not sufficiently high to entice me from competing priorities,” Mann told The Jewish News.
“There is nothing for the UK to learn about tackling antisemitism from some of these characters.”Hirsh similarly issued a statement, “There are too many far-right speakers on the agenda who associate themselves with anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian movements.”
Hirsh added, “It is clear to me that anti-democratic thinking is fertile ground for antisemitism and that the best way to undermine antisemitism is to support democratic thinking, movements, and states.”
Muzicant: Chikli’s actions “stab Jews in the back”
European Jewish Congress (EJC) President Dr. Ariel Muzicant also sharply criticized Chikli on Tuesday.“For 80 years, we have been fighting antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and the aftermath of the Shoah,” Muzicant wrote in a letter sent to The Jerusalem Post.
“Extreme-right parties in Europe have been our worst opponents in this fight. Many functionaries and leaders of those parties have supported Holocaust denial, promoted antisemitic codes and statements, and fought against anti-Nazi legislation.”
Muzicant argued that while some far-right politicians now claim to support Israel, “The motivation of extreme right politicians to come to this conference is not the love for Israel or to protect the Jews, but mainly to get a kosher rabbi stamp. And we, Jews or Israelis, should not be used as rabbi stamps,” he wrote.
“This Chikli conference is a major problem for Jewish communities in Europe. It is harming the Jewish existence in the Diaspora. It is as if members of the Israeli government are stabbing us in the back,” he wrote.
Muzicant emphasized that far-right movements in Europe often oppose liberal democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and press freedom – values he described as “oxygen” for Jewish survival in the Diaspora.
“Taking these values away, what the extreme right promotes, makes life for Jews in Europe impossible,” he stated.Knesset Aliyah and Absorption Committee chairman MK Gilad Kariv (Democrats) called on Monday for the government to renege on what he defined as the invitation of politicians from parties with “definitive antisemitic roots.”In a letter to Chikli, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Kariv wrote that the invitation constituted a “deviation from the longstanding policy of Israeli governments and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it directly contradicts the positions and policies of the representative organizations of Jewish communities in those countries and on the international stage.”
Kariv added, “The invitation of these representatives is particularly jarring given that this concerns an international conference on combating antisemitism, which is supposed to be conducted under the auspices of the president and the prime minister.”
“The invitation of representatives of extremist parties with anti-Semitic roots undermines the foundations of the Israeli, Jewish, and international struggle against antisemitism,” Kariv wrote, adding that it “harms the fabric of relations between the State of Israel and Jewish communities in the diaspora and could damage Israel’s strategic relations with Western allies and leading political parties.”
“This step undermines Israel’s leading role in the global fight against antisemitism and represents a troubling and dangerous turning away from the Jewish people, as well as from the present and future challenges of many Jewish communities around the world,” Kariv added.
Kariv argued that while the parties in question voiced support for Israel, it should still not grant them an “international stamp of approval.”
Kariv will hold a meeting on the matter in the Aliyah Committee on Sunday morning.