It has been a rocky and divisive summer in the European Union in the aftermath of the European elections.

The 2019-2024 term had been an important period of significant advancements regarding policy on anti-Semitism: the E.U. passed its first-ever “Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life”, numerous E.U. member states appointed national coordinators and developed action plans, key E.U. figures visited Israel in full pomp and circumstance—despite detractors, moneys were allocated for civil society action, including for a new section of Yad Vashem dedicated to Jewish life in Europe before the Second World War.

Relations with Israel had also strengthened, with the first so-called Association Council in years, heightened interest in the Abraham Accords, and Israel’s participation in various European projects for the first time.

Oct. 7 put all these advancements to the test, and with anti-Semitism at its highest levels in decades, this election cycle was going to be—forgive the dramatic inclination—truly existential.

What shaped the political cycle however, were economic pressures, migration issues, farmers’ protests against climate regulation, fatigue with the ongoing war in Ukraine—fueled in large part by Russian disinformation campaigns, and in some countries, the relentless, occasionally violent anti-Israel protests. All of this set the stage for a turbulent election period, with the far-right and far-left expected to make major gains.

Ultimately, the new E.U. political landscape delivered a mixed picture that could best be summed up as “bad, but not as bad as expected.”

With a new European Parliament now convened and German conservative Ursula von der Leyen sworn in once again in the E.U.’s top spot as Commission President, it seems like Brussels is settling into the 2024-2029 mandate. We take a look at the results, new figures expected to take their seats in the E.U.’s institutions, and what it all means for European Jews, Israel and the period ahead.

The far-right makes gains

The far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE)— Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s new political group—has become the third largest in the European Parliament, exceeding the tally of both the hard right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the liberal Renew Europe groups.

Fidesz, the party of Orbán, who also holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the E.U. until January, opted for teaming up with unseemly allies. These includes the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), plagued by anti-Semitism scandals, revelations of Nazi affiliations among members, anti-vaxx positions and a myriad of conspiracy theories as well as the far-right Belgian Vlaams Belang party. Notably, one of its leading MEPs allegedly asked an intern whether he “loves or hates the Jews” during a job interview, and hired him when he replied the latter. Also in the Patriots for Europe political group is France’s National Rally, led by anti-immigration hardliner and Putin sympathiser Marine Le Pen, the daughter of Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen. The National Rally’s 28-year old Jordan Bardella, who very nearly became French Prime Minister in the tumultuous French national election in June, was elected leader of the Patriots for Europe group,a new face for the oldest of misanthropic agendas.

Hard to believe, but another political group  was deemed too far-right even for the Patriots for Europe: the so-called Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN).  Together with the Patriots for Europe, they make up 109 of the Parliament’s 720 seats.

ESN “boasts” the Alternative for Germany political party and their steady flow of revelations of Nazi affiliations among members, France’s Reconquete, Slovak and Polish neo-fascists, and a few of other minor problematic parties, mostly in Eastern Europe.

Add to that the ECR’s 78 seats, some of which have voted with the far-right, and you’ve got potentially a quarter of hard-right to far-right seats in the new legislature.

Unexpected: One of the new members is former member of the Polish Parliament Grzegorz Braun, who late last year took a fire extinguisher to a Hannukiah in his national parliament.

In the immediate aftermath of the elections, there were fears that the groups would coalesce into one mega far-right group that would have potentially become the second largest parliamentary faction. However, divergent positions on Russia and predictable personality clashes made such plans fall apar—luckily.

It’s worth noting  that while ant-Ssemitism is part of most of these parties’ past and present, many are proudly advertising their support for Israel. This is both to secure a “kosher stamp” in light of anti-Semitism accusations and shortchange for their often racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant positions.

Jewish communities in most of the countries where these parties originate have laid out firm cordons sanitaires, refusing cooperation with many or most of these groups. Yet given the growing, sometimes virulent anti-Israel sentiment on the left—increasingly manifested in starkly anti-Semitic fashion—this will undoubtably prove a tough environment to navigate.

Moderate gains for the far-left

The self-styled The Left group, which brings together the far-left of the political spectrum, gained five members, less than the sweeping wave some anticipated. They are now the second smallest group in the European Parliament. What they lack in numbers, they more than make up in radical anti-Zionist personalities. The new face of the group, Rima Hassan, is a French MP of Syrian-Palestinian origin whose anti-Israel discourse has unquestionably and consistently veered into blatant anti-Semitism, and whose violent rhetoric, directed also towards colleagues, has already earned her an ethics complaint. She was spotted last week in Jordan, attending a demonstration in honor of assasinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

While the group seems to be isolated from other left-leaning parties at the European level, including the Greens and the Socialists and Democrats, national dynamics have at times been concerning, nowhere more so than in France following the European elections:

With Macron’s centrist Rennaisance in freefall, France’s green and socialist parties joined the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) and their notoriously anti-Semitic populist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon to form the New Popular Front.

For the Jewish community, this presented a demoralizing choice, which created real intra-communal divisions. A vote for the far-right was unconceivable to most before these elections. Yet the prospect of voting for the left-wing coalition whose most vocal figure was an unabashed anti-Semite seemed equally daunting.

While many breathed a sigh of relief that the coalition managed to defeat the far-right National Rall—largely thanks to strategic voting facilitated by the country’s two-round system—the whole affair left the Jewish community in deep angst. In the 48 hours after the election, some 2000 Aliyah inquires were filed with the Jewish Agency for Israel.

A look to the top

Reading the above can seem like a lot of doom and gloom, yet, if we look to who’ll actually be in a position to exert influence, there are reasons  to be optimistic.

Roberta Metsola was re-elected in as President of the European Parliament. The 45-year-old Maltese center-right EPP leader has been one of the foremost pro-Israel voices in Brussels. She, along with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, were the first leaders to visit Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks and her support hasn’t dwindled. She’s been vocal on issues related to anti-Semitism and is a respected and talented politician that has managed to garner the support of both her right-wing political family and her counterparts on the left.

Von der Leyen, herself a key ally both in the fight against anti-Semitism and with regard to maintaining a strong and reasonable voice on Israel, has had a challenging path to securing her re-election atop the E.U.’s executive body. Her gamble to secure the role without courting the support of the hard and far-right populist, euro-skeptic parties paid off: she won with a margin of 40, far wider than in her first election, with the backing of her political group, the center-right EPP, the centrist Renew Europe group, the center-left Socialists and Democrats, as well as the Greens.

And on the foreign policy front, the E.U. is soon to—finally—bid farewell to it’s Foreign Affairs Representative, Josep Borrell. Borrell’s hostility towards Israel has been a bulwark of his agenda, as has his willingness to engage with Iran. One of his leading subalterns recently attended  the swearing in of the Islamic Republic’s new president side by side with Hamas leadership.

He has also been regarded as somewhat weak on Russia, something that cannot be said of his likely successor, outgoing Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, of the liberal party family, Renew Europe. Kallas, set to be confirmed sometime in the early autumn, has been a key vocal figure in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine and a strong advocate for E.U. support to the embattled nation as intrinsic to the E.U.’s own security architecture.

Her country’s first female Prime Minister and an all-round well regarded figure, Kallas would join Metsola and von der Leyen to complete an all-star female trio, alongside Portuguese socialist moderate António Costa, who isset to head the European Council. Off to a shaky start following resurfacing discussions about corruption in his government during his stint as Portuguese PM, Costa is nonetheless set to also be confirmed this autumn and start his tenure replacing Belgian Charles Michel sometime in November.

Costa’s role will be key in articulating a joint position for the E.U.’s 27 member states as the war between Israel and Hamas wages on and a ceasefire deal remains seemingly beyond the reach of the main actors involved.

Rounding out the top jobs

As this new iteration of the E.U. is coming into sharper focus, the last remaining pieces of the puzzle—the full list of the 27 Commissioners—still require some patience. Aside from von der Leyen and Kallas, some 25 other portfolios need to be appointed and the titles may altogether be reshuffled to meet new needs. We’re keeping an eye out for the Promoting the European Way of Life portfolio, which which under Greek Commissioner Margaritis Schinas made considerable progress in the policy response against anti-Semitism during the 2019-2024 term.

Yet, with anti-Jewish sentiment at its highest levels in decades, a strong mandate to combat anti-Semitism will be essential to redouble efforts in the mandate ahead. Portfolios dealing with democracy and rule of law, digitalization, as well as neighborhood policy are also key areas to watch for B’nai B’rith as the Commission rounds out its College of Commissioners for the next five years.

Buckle up

In her speech to the European Parliament ahead of her vote, von der Leyen said: “I am convinced that the version of Europe since the end of World War II, with all of its imperfections and inequalities, is still the best version in history. I will never stand by and watch it be torn apart from the inside or the outside. I will never let the extreme polarisation of our societies become accepted.”

Most of us in the European Jewish community share both the sentiment and the commitment. As we experience this political moment of polarization with trepidation, as we witness the extent to which anti-Semitism has permeated public discourse on all extremes of the political spectrum, making its way dangerously towards the middle of society, we stand ready to partake in ensuring the E.U. lives up to its motto “United in Diversity” over the years to come. It won’t be an easy ride—buckle up!

---

 

---