On 2nd July, the Israel Office of the Friedrich-Eber- Stiftung (FES) hosted a round table in cooperation with the Israeli Association for the Study of European Integration (IASEI) as well as Tel Aviv University. Subject of the discussion was “European Right-Wing Populists and their views on Islam and Israel”.
Around 50 interested listeners of all ages followed the invitation, with backgrounds from university, civil society and diplomacy. After greetings by the three hosts, the Director of the Israel Office of FES, Dr. Werner Puschra, and his research assistant, Clara Hestermann, held an introductory presentation on the topic. They laid their focus on right-wing populists` traits and strategies as well as their attitude toward Israel. Case studies from the Netherlands and France illustrated their comments.
In a subsequent round of brief inputs, representatives from the government, from science and the media enlarged upon focal points and laid out different analyses. At last, co-host Dr. Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu (IASEI) moderated an open discussion on gathered insights and varying assessments. The attendees noted among others that right-wing populists may like to present themselves as friends of Israel on the one hand – on the other, they still sophisticatedly draw on anti-Semite and islamophobic stereotypes.
Download the Program of the Roundtable here!
