Israeli Minister Reveals Ireland and Spain Among Nations Most Hostile to Jewish Community
A recent report from the Israeli government indicates a significant surge in antisemitic incidents during 2024. Following Hamas’ attacks on October 7th and Israel’s subsequent actions, several nations reported an uptick as high as six times the usual rate.
Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli, revealed in an exclusive interview with Euronews that both Spain and Ireland have experienced considerable shifts, now emerging as "the most unfriendly nations towards the state of Israel and the Jewish community."
Last year, Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally acknowledged a Palestinian state.
During an exclusive interview with Euronews the previous week, Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin described the circumstances in Gaza as " hell on earth ," accusing Israel of committing what he called “war crimes” and criticising the EU’s “lack of response”.
Chikli firmly denied the allegation and retaliated against Ireland’s position. As Chikli stated, when an Irish official attends the Holocaust Remembrance Day but “instead of discussing the Holocaust... talks about Gaza — this constitutes violent anti-Semitism coming from a head of state.”
The same applies to Spain, according to Chikli, who criticized Madrid for deciding to participate in the ICC case against Israel regarding alleged offenses during its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Both Spain and Ireland have consistently dismissed Israel's allegations of antisemitism. In October, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that the southern European nation does not tolerate any kind of prejudice against the Jewish community.
In Spain, as Albares pointed out, "there is freedom of expression, and any form of hate speech, including antisemitism, is not only strongly condemned but also codified within the penal code."
Le Pen over Macron
The Israeli government report explicitly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, noting that his remarks alleging Israel’s involvement in “the killing of women and children” served to legitimize antisemitic discourse propagated by the extreme left in France.
Chikli charged the French president with failing to support the Jewish population in France, which is the biggest in Europe and ranks as the third-largest globally following Israel and the U.S. "By opting for Emmanuel Macron not to participate in the Jewish community’s march against anti-Semitism, it conveys a certain message," Chikli emphasized.
He explained that this is why Israel has garnered backing from previously unexpected allies such as the right-wing, which now includes France’s far-right National Rally party (RN).
“For example, with Marine Le Pen, we all know about her father’s history, which was quite contentious due to his stance on anti-Semitism. However, she chose to follow a different path,” Chikli stated.
Initially, she excluded her father from the event. Following the parade organized by the Jewish community against antisemitism starting from October 7th, she participated.
Chikli informed Euronews that she explicitly criticized the ICC’s ruling against (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the defense minister (Yoav) Galant.
That is why Israel views the RN and Spain’s Vox party as potential allies for the future, he stated.
Comments
Post a Comment