Farid Hafez is a senior research fellow at The Bridge Initiative – a multi-year research project on Islamophobia at Georgetown University in Washington, DC – and assistant teaching professor of international relations at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
When Austria’s Freedom Party (FPO) entered a government coalition in 2000, it became the first far-right party in the European Union to do so. Its notorious leader, the rhetorically gifted lawyer Jorg Haider, was denied entry to Israel, and an official boycott of the party has been in place ever since. The rationale was the FPO’s history: in the words of political scientist Anton Pelinka, “it was a party founded by former Nazis for former Nazis.” Haider and other high-ranking members also used antisemitic language throughout their careers. In 2000, Israel even recalled its ambassador from Vienna over the party’s participation in government.
From pariahs to partners
Much has changed since. Alongside many other radical right parties in Europe, the FPO has worked to normalize its relationship with Israel. As these nationalist movements win more votes and enter coalitions from Italy to Sweden and from Germany to the Netherlands, they have tried to present themselves as trustworthy allies of Israel, both to shed their antisemitic baggage and to establish themselves as credible partners on the international stage.
In 2010, a delegation of hard-right functionaries visited Israel and the West Bank to build ties with Israeli politicians. They were welcomed by fringe extremist figures but still shut out of the corridors of power. When the FPO again entered a coalition with the Conservatives in 2017-18, Israeli politicians including lawmaker Yehuda Glick and former member of the Knesset Michael Kleiner advocated regular contact with the party, but many pushed back. Israel’s official line was to work with the civil servants of FPO-led ministries while limiting contact with the ministers themselves.
Today the FPO is arguably Austria’s most successful party and leads in the polls, though it is no longer in government. Yet after FPO leader Herbert Kickl’s mid-September speech in Strasbourg on “Islamism, Antisemitism: Threats to Europe’s Freedom,” his remarks on Israel and antisemitism drew a wave of warmth from the highest levels of the Israeli government.
In 2010, Kickl’s party colleague Andreas Molzer, a long-time right-wing populist politician, still evaded any discussion of Austria’s Nazi past and the murder of millions of Jews. This time, for the first time, the party leader said the FPO must confront its history. He also affirmed Israel’s “right to exist” and endorsed the contested International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. He recognized the Jewish people’s historic connection to “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank), a stance that effectively denies Palestinian statehood, and pledged to move Austria’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he became chancellor.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called Kickl’s remarks an “important and positive development,” signaling that Israel is prepared to open a substantive dialogue with the FPO despite its past. The Israeli Embassy’s official X account reposted Sa’ar’s statement in German and called the speech “significant,” even though Austria’s Jewish community has not welcomed the FPO’s shift. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli described the Strasbourg gathering as a “historic turning point.” The governing Likud, which has already joined the European far-right bloc as an observer member of Patriots for Europe, took part directly. Likud’s political director Ariel Bulshtein, Knesset member Ariel Kellner, and two rabbis thanked Kickl and FPO Member of the European Parliament Harald Vilimsky by name and called the FPO “friends of Israel and the Jewish people.”
4 factors behind Israel’s strategic pivot
Why is the Israeli government changing its stance? Several factors are at play.
First, the radical right keeps growing across Europe. The AfD recently won two state elections in eastern Germany. Right-wing parties have led governments in Italy and, until recently, the Netherlands, and they poll at or near the top in Austria, the UK, and Sweden. It makes sense for Israel to move closer to forces that may shape Europe’s future.
Second, over the past 15 years, the European hard-right has recast itself as anti-Muslim, distanced itself from its antisemitic past, and reinvented itself as the defender of a “Judeo-Christian” Europe. This has allowed it to side with Israel against the supposed threat of “Islam.”
Third, the growing normalization of the far-right within Israel itself has helped. Vilimsky was recently received in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, which many saw as a historic turning point. Likud’s observer status in Patriots for Europe has also increased the political cost for other potential partners in Europe.
Fourth, and probably most important, as Sa’ar’s move shows, diplomacy has become a more critical battlefield for Israel than the military one, especially after the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage. Winning over the growing ranks of far-right voters can only help improve Israel’s image.
What remains to be seen is how this will translate into an official diplomatic shift. As of last year, the boycott of the FPO was still on the books, but a new assessment appears to be on the horizon. It would be a huge win for the far-right, not only in Austria.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.