Quds News Network

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has reportedly instructed the ministry to discreetly open talks with far-right European parties, breaking an official Israeli foreign policy. In an X post, citing three Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported on Monday that Saar ordered the ministry “three weeks ago to open quiet talks with the far-right parties in France, Spain and Sweden that have until now been officially boycotted by the Israeli government. According to Ravid, a senior Foreign Ministry official said that "we do not agree with the entire platform of these parties or with every statement made by their leaders, but we believe that we can have a dialogue with them." “This is a dramatic policy shift on the part of the Israeli government, which now views these parties as legitimate and is prepared to maintain official relations with them,” Ravid reported. Among the parties are the Spanish far-right and nationalist Vox party and the Swedish far-right party the Swedish Democrats, according to Ravid. Despite the recent directive to facilitate outreach to far-right parties, the process, according to Ravid, began during the Israel Katz's tenure as Foreign Minister, under which the Austrian Freedom Party and the German AfD were under review. The contents of the review were shared with Saar sometime after he assumed his post in September 2024, and included an analysis of the parties' support for Israel, their positions toward the local Jewish community, and the Jewish community's attitude toward the party and parties' renunciation of anti-Semitism and Nazi past, according to Ravid. A ministry source told Ravid that Saar authorized opening relations with the National Rally, the Spanish Vox Party, and the Swedish Democrats Party, but opted against establishing ties with the Germany's AfD or the Austrian Freedom party for now. As part of the outreach strategy, according to Ravid, Israeli embassies in European cities including Madrid, Paris, and Stockholm informed heads of local Jewish communities of the move and and their intention to coordinate with them in the advance of contact with the far-right parties.

?Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar instructed the Foreign Ministry three weeks ago to open quiet talks with the far-right parties in France, Spain and Sweden that have until now been officialy boycotted by the Israeli government, three Foreign Ministry officials told me
?Why…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) February 24, 2025

Several meetings have already been held by Israeli diplomats with representatives of the three far-right parties in recent weeks, but a ministry source familiar with the outreach told Ravid that meetings were held discreetly without notifying the media. Breaking its Past Among the parties designated for outreach is also France's far-right National Rally party whose leader is Marine Le Pen. Since its founding in 1972, the National Rally has been accused of using antisemitic language, and Marine Le Pen’s father, the party’s founding leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, was known for his criticism of Israeli attacks on Palestinians. The elder politician went so far as to describe the Gaza Strip as a “concentration camp where people are deprived the chance to defend themselves” – an assessment many modern critics of Israel would tend to agree with. In contrast, however, Marine Le Pen, argues that the National Rally has been in favor of the creation of a Jewish state throughout its history, calling it a longtime Zionist party. Last November, weeks into what would become Israel’s months-long assault on the Gaza Strip, Marine Le Pen and current National Rally President Jordan Bardella joined pro-Israeli protests despite criticism. Presenting his party’s government plan ahead of the snap polls, Bardella on June 24 said: “Recognizing Palestine now would be recognizing terrorism.” Macron, for his part, previously said several times that recognizing Palestine was not a “taboo,” but it should be done at the right time. In July, there was repeated public praise of Marine Le Pen by Israel's minister of diaspora affairs, Amichai Chikli, during the French elections despite its legacy of antisemitism. In response, Macron reportedly complained to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about "unacceptable" interference in France's elections during a phone call.

Israel Reportedly Opens Talks with Far-Right European Parties

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