All over Europe one can witness a worrisome rise in antisemitic assaults and statements. How should Israel react to this phenomenon? How should one treat antisemitic, populist political parties in Europe? And how can Israeli-European relations be strengthened and used to combat antisemitism? In order to discuss such pressing questions, the INSS think tank organized, together with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Tel Aviv University, an event on the 7th of March 2019 titled “The Rise of Antisemitism: Implications for Israeli-European Relations”.
After Isaac Herzog, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, opened the seminar, Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism, presented the plan of the Council of the EU to combat antisemitism and to better protect Jewish communities in Europe. Together with Martin Weiss, the Ambassador of Austria to Israel, and Emmanuele Giaufret, the head of the EU delegation to Israel, she and her colleagues showed unity in the fight against antisemitism. Professor Dinat Porat, the Head of the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Chief Historian of Yad Vashem, welcomed their commitment, but also pointed out a discrepancy between the views of the European elite and the civil society in Europe when it comes to antisemitism.
