The essence of "new antisemitism" is the "virulent campaign aimed at denying Israel’s right to exist," and is shared by the "Iranian terror regime, the Palestinian Authority, and their allies on the far left," Israel's Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister, Amichai Chikli, said in a speech at an event called "The National Conservatism Conference" in Brussels on Wednesday.
Chikli's speech came after Belgium's supreme administrative court overturned a decision by local authorities to shut down the conference due to "concerns over public safety," according to a number of news reports. The venue was changed twice prior to the incident, and conference organizers accused authorities of acting to shut it down due to its hard-right character.
According to its website, the conference, known as NatCon, aims to "preserve the nation-state in Europe," and "brings together public figures, journalists, scholars, and students who understand that the past and future of conservatism are inextricably tied to the idea of the nation, to the principle of national independence, and to the revival of the unique national traditions that alone have the power to bind a people together and bring about their flourishing." Keynote speakers at the conference included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former UK MP and leader of the Brexit Party Nigel Farage, and far-right French former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.
After Zionism, what comes next?
In his speech, Chikli argued that the "progressive left" and "radical political Islam" were the chief instigators of antisemitism today, but that their ambitions extended "well beyond the rejection of Zionism." According to Chikli, the two movements were united in their "pursuit of totalitarian rule and the suppression of individual freedoms: Freedom of thought, faith, and speech," and therefore were a threat not just to Israel but to the West in general.
Chikli argued that "those who turn their back on the righteous war we are fighting against absolute evil will eventually bring it to their doorstep."
"Those who seek to deny us our historical rights in our eternal homeland will see their rights undermined. The future belongs to those nations that will relegate political correctness and woke culture to the dustbin of history. The future of the West hinges on courageous nations willing to swim against the current, and re-cultivate the values that Judeo-Christian civilization has brought to the world: the importance of tradition, the sanctity of the family, and the vitality of a robust community. It depends on education that fosters a familiarity and appreciation of the past to comprehend the present and shape the future," Chikli said.
Chikli praised Orban, calling him an "exceptional leader" and adding that under Orban's "leadership and action, Hungary is one of the safest countries in Europe for its citizens and also for its small Jewish community that can express its identity in public freely without fear of harassment and violent attacks."
"The leaders who stand firm on the right of Israel today do not do so because it is a startup nation, nor because of its cherry tomatoes.
"They do it because they draw inspiration from the history of an ancient nation that has risen from the ashes and rebuilt its ruins. They are inspired by the eternal book that forms the foundation of our civilization.
"They do so because of the values we share — human life, faith, family, and freedom. Eternal values that will survive both the storm of Jihadism that sanctifies death and the storm of "progress" that sanctifies nothingness.
"This world is fundamentally good, this is our belief, which is why we bring sweet children into it even during difficult times, and why our anthem is 'Hatikvah', The Hope," Chikli concluded.
A number of the keynote speakers at the conference have themselves been accused of antisemitism. Both Orban and Farage, for example, have been accused of using antisemitic tropes to criticize Jewish-born Hungarian-American billionaire philanthropist George Soros. In addition, in 2022, the chief rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, called Zemmour an "antisemite and a racist" for comments he made about Vichy France's treatment of Jews during World War II.
Deborah Lipstadt, the US administration's special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said in a speech in London in February titled "From Right to Left and In Between: Jew-hatred Across the Political Divide," that "one of the most striking aspects of antisemitism today is its ability to transcend traditional ideological boundaries. Simply put, antisemitism is a hatred that can be described as a horseshoe where the far-left and the far-right are closer to one another on the issue of antisemitism than they are to the center. In fact, recent studies have shown that a better predictor of antisemitism is not a right or left-wing perspective but a conspiratorial worldview and a penchant for authoritarian type of government. Rather than the right-left dichotomy, a more accurate predictor of antisemitic worldviews is the adherence to conspiratorial worldviews, anti-hierarchical aggression, and a preference for authoritarianism. This, of course, can describe someone at either end of the political spectrum. This might help us understand how people with conflicting views on a host of – if not all – other issues converge on antisemitism."
Lipstadt added that she had discerned "an interesting – and disturbing – tendency among some of those who are concerned about the dangers of antisemitism. Their concerns are genuine, but their vision is distorted. Those who place themselves at the right end of the political spectrum see antisemitism on the left. And they see it clearly and accurately. Those on the left end of the spectrum see the threat of antisemitism on the right. And they see it clearly and accurately. What each of them fail to see is the antisemitism right next to them, that which is expressed by people with whom they share many other ideas, beliefs, and political stances. If you can only see it on the opposite side of the political spectrum, then I have to question whether your battle is with antisemitism or with your political opponents."