Dozens of members of the European Parliament from Patriots for Europe, the European Parliament's third-largest group, signed a charter adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) principles on combating antisemitism and commemorating the Holocaust at a special conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
During the conference, participants expressed support for Israel and settlement in the West Bank, while opposing sanctions and boycotts imposed on them.
The conference was held against the backdrop of measures and sanctions promoted in recent years by several European countries against parties associated with settlement in the West Bank. Participants included members of the European Parliament and senior officials from right-wing and conservative parties across the continent, alongside Likud MK Ariel Kallner. Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and president of the Likud Court, attorney Michael Kleiner, addressed the conference in recorded messages.
Patriots for Europe brings together representatives of right-wing and nationalist parties from several European countries. Its members include representatives of the Czech ANO party, Hungary's Fidesz, the Freedom Party of Austria, the Dutch Party for Freedom, and France's National Rally.
The signing of the charter adopting IHRA principles was central the the conference. According to the charter, certain expressions directed against the State of Israel may, depending on the context, constitute expressions of antisemitism. It also emphasizes combating Holocaust denial and distortion of the memory of the Holocaust.
Palestinian workers will pay price for European West Bank sanctions, Kleiner says
Kleiner focused his remarks on the potential economic consequences of sanctions on the West Bank, arguing that those who could ultimately pay the price are Palestinian workers employed by Israeli businesses and factories.
"The sanctions imposed by 12 countries, led by Britain, on Judea and Samaria are a double-edged sword," Kleiner said. "Those who will suffer from them most are tens of thousands of Palestinians who make a living working for Jews in Israel and Judea and Samaria."
Kleiner pointed to SodaStream as an example of what he said could happen if Israeli factories in the area were boycotted.
"The example is the attempted boycott of SodaStream: The factory moved to the Arava and was not harmed, but 500 Arab workers lost their livelihoods and were forced to work in the Palestinian Authority for much lower wages," he said. "The factories will not close, but the sanctions could severely harm the workers' livelihoods."
According to Kleiner, this illustrates a paradox in the sanctions policy: Measures intended, according to their proponents, to help Palestinians could in practice harm the livelihoods of Palestinians employed by Israelis in the West Bank.
Kallner, chairman of the Knesset committee for cooperation with the European Parliament, also criticized the sanctions and linked them to the fight against antisemitism.
"When sanctions are imposed against the Jewish state and against the people of the Bible who returned to the land of the Bible, this is a double standard, this is hypocrisy, and this is modern antisemitism," he said.
European antisemitism threatens more than Jews, Kallner warns
Kallner added that antisemitism in Europe was not a threat to Jews alone.
"Antisemitism begins with the Jews, but it never ends with the Jews," he said.
According to Kallner, Israel stands "on the front line of the struggle between civilization and barbarism," and European countries should stand alongside it.
Dagan welcomed conference participants in a recorded message and presented cooperation with Europe's right-wing parties as part of a shared struggle against terrorism and efforts to delegitimize Israel.
"We are fighting to defend Europe. We are fighting to defend Israel. We are fighting to defend the future of Western civilization as a whole," Dagan said. "We stand together against barbaric terrorist attacks. We stand together against the new war, the war of delegitimization campaigns and the war of lies."
The conference and signing of the charter are part of efforts by Israeli figures and representatives of the settlement movement to deepen ties with right-wing and conservative parties in Europe, at a time when pressure and measures against parties associated with settlement in the West Bank are increasing in several European countries.