This week, Jerusalem hosts the second “International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, Generation of Truth.” The program bills the conference as a serious reflection on the sources of contemporary antisemitism and the responsibilities of democratic states. This makes one issue impossible to ignore: Israel’s long-standing courtship of Europe’s radical right under Benjamin Netanyahu.
For more than a decade, Netanyahu has treated alliances with European far-right populist and radical Eurosceptic actors as strategic assets. The logic is transactional. These parties defend Israel in European institutions, mute criticism of Israeli policy, and sometimes even break with official European positions on Jerusalem or the settlements. In return, Israel grants them political legitimacy and treats their professions of friendship as proof of moral rehabilitation.
After October 7, 2023, this approach is not merely controversial. It is actively dangerous. Europe is experiencing a sustained rise in antisemitism. Jewish communities across the continent report growing fear, harassment, and violence, alongside the normalization of conspiratorial and exclusionary political language. In this climate, strengthening illiberal political forces does not protect Jews. On the contrary, it reinforces political styles that thrive on identifying enemies within and that have historically turned against minorities once circumstances shift. Even when today’s far-right claims to stand with Israel, the political ecosystems it nurtures remain deeply corrosive for Jewish life in Europe.
At the same time, Israel is paying a strategic price that goes far beyond the symbolic. Europe is Israel’s largest trade partner, accounting for the lion’s share of Israeli exports, imports, investment flows, and technological cooperation. More importantly, Europe is central to Israel’s scientific and innovation architecture. Israeli universities, startups, and research institutes are deeply embedded in European networks of funding, peer review, and collaboration.
How Israel-Europe ties are strained by Netanyahu's embracing of the far Right
These networks are already under strain. The scientific and academic boycott of Israel is no longer a theoretical threat. To varying degrees, it already exists. European universities and research bodies have delayed, limited, or quietly withdrawn from cooperation with Israeli partners. Individual researchers face tacit exclusion from consortia, conferences, and joint projects. These decisions often occur below the governmental level, making them harder to contest and easier to normalize.
The debate around “Horizon Europe” – the European Union’s key funding program for research and innovation – brings this danger into sharp relief. In mid-2025, the European Commission proposed a partial suspension of Israel’s participation in certain parts of the program, particularly those related to the European Innovation Council Accelerator. Even when such measures are narrowed or stalled, the signal is unmistakable. Israel’s position inside Europe’s flagship research framework can no longer be taken for granted.
This is where Netanyahu’s embrace of Europe’s radical right becomes strategically self-defeating. While it may generate tactical support from a handful of governments, it accelerates Israel’s alienation from the European mainstream that actually shapes research cooperation: universities, funding agencies, professional associations, and civil society. These actors are far less impressed by symbolic alliances with illiberal leaders and far more sensitive to questions of democratic norms, academic freedom, and international legitimacy.
A conference in Jerusalem dedicated to combating antisemitism should confront this contradiction honestly. If Israel seeks genuine solidarity with European Jews and wants to preserve its place at the heart of Europe’s economic and scientific future, it must rethink alliances that trade short-term political cover for long-term isolation. In the post-October 7 world, this is not only a moral reckoning. It is a question of Israel’s national interest, and the cost of getting it wrong is already being paid.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and a professor of European studies and international relations in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.