President of EJC to ‘Post’: Illiberal democracy threatens European Jewish life - exclusive

VIENNA – Recent electoral gains of far-right parties in Austria and Germany and the election of a far-right politician as president of the Austrian Parliament are causing growing concern among the leaders of European Jewish organizations and communities for the future of Jewish life in the Old Continent.

Ariel Muzikant, president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC) and former president of the Jewish community in Austria, raised a red flag against any legitimization of these far-right parties – the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) – and recommended that Israel continue boycotting them despite their mounting popularity.

“I have had quite a difficult year behind me,” said Muzikant in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “All European Jews find themselves between plague and cholera: attacks from the Left, from the Right, from the Islamist side. Our current situation is not easy.

“One of the greatest difficulties that we are facing is the question: From what side does the real dangerous and threatening antisemitism come?" He asked. "The truth is that it comes from all sides. On the one hand, we are extremely busy defending Israel, and on the other hand, we are defending ourselves from antisemitism coming from all sides.”

However, there are big differences between countries in Europe, Muzikant said.

“There are countries in which the Left’s antisemitism is extreme; Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Norway are examples. There are countries where Islamist antisemitism is very dangerous, like France, Belgium, the UK, and, to a certain extent, Germany as well. And there are countries in which there is a ‘balance’ between the different sources of antisemitism," he said. 

“Our reaction to the situation in each country is different because the Jewish communities decided to treat every country according to its circumstances. If the Italian Jews tell me that they have contact with [Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni, speak to her and work with her; then we at the EJC [can] acknowledge that and support it. When the Swedish Jews tell us how they deal with their far Right, we do the same," Muzikant said.

However, the Jewish communities in Austria, France, and Germany say that they don’t even want to get close to the far-right parties in those countries, the EJC president said.

“This position has historical reasons, but it also comes from the fact that the officials of these parties are extreme Right and antisemitic, and they often have contacts in neo-Nazi spheres. The Jewish communities in these countries do not want any contact with them.”

'Cellar Nazi'

The best examples for it are the German AfD and Austrian FPÖ, said Muzikant.

“We documented 225 cases in which officials of the FPÖ expressed antisemitic, extreme-right, or neo-Nazi opinions, from singing Nazi songs to shouting ‘Heil Hitler’ and other idiocies. Dozens of FPÖ members are also members of student fraternities [Burschenschaften]. When they participate in meetings of these fraternities, often taking place in cellars, they let out their extreme-right and neo-Nazi positions. Therefore, we call them ‘cellar Nazis.’

The new leader of the Austrian Parliament’s lower house, National Council President Walter Rosenkranz, “is such a cellar Nazi,” Muzikant said.

“He is a member of the Libertas fraternity, which threw Jewish members out and was involved in other activities that cannot be connected to the position of the president of Parliament. If Rosenkranz had taken his new position seriously, he would have canceled his membership in the fraternity, distanced himself from it, and declared that he was a democrat.

“However, he is doing the opposite; he says that the students’ fraternities are part of Austrian culture and democracy, keeps his membership, and gives his fraternity backing while saying that he is against antisemitism and wants, in the future, to support all activities relating to fighting antisemitism. Only an idiot would buy it. One can indeed consider Rosenkranz as one of the most moderate officials of the FPÖ.”

But here are much worse cases in this party, he said.

“These people want an illiberal democracy on the one hand and the revival of the ideas of German nationalism," Muzikant said. "For Jews living in a perpetrator country such as Austria, this is simply unacceptable. Therefore, there are no contacts between the Jewish community and these people.”

The risks of 'Orbanization'

MUZIKANT WARNED against the “Orbanization” of politics in Europe, referring to the main role of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, in shaping and leading the far-right landscape in the European Union.

“The biggest concern we have is the effort of these forces – from Orban through [FPÖ leader Herbert] Kickl to the AfD – to establish illiberal democracy by the gradual abolition of freedom of press and... [constitutional freedom].

“For us Jews in Europe, this is a serious threat. Once the achieved freedoms and liberal dispositions in Europe are lost, once Orbanism becomes a majority in Europe, then I fear that with or without antisemitism, it will not be possible for Jews to live anymore in Europe.

Jews in Europe also have to take into account the close relations these parties have with Russian President Vladimir Putin and their close relations with identitarian groups and other extreme-right circles.

“Foremost, we have to consider their wish to pass off the constitution and dispose of certain liberal freedoms that exist in Europe and which we appreciate a lot. That is also a reason why we strictly oppose and fight these political forces.”

According to Muzikant, the fact that Rosenkranz was elected as the president of Parliament with the support of MPs representing other parties than the FPÖ was a dangerous error.

“Rosenkranz was certainly elected with votes of the conservative ÖVP and social-democrat SPÖ. We wrote MPs and warned them of what was coming. Still, he was elected by 43 MPs not from his party. Those MPs thought that traditions have to be kept. It’s a custom that the candidate of the largest party in Parliament, nowadays the FPÖ, is elected to preside over the parliament," Muzikant said.

“They didn’t want to veer from this tradition, which is not a constitutional one. They said, we didn’t elect Kickl as chancellor, so we give the FPÖ the position of the president of Parliament so that the FPÖ doesn’t start running amok. I consider this attitude as nonsense and endangering democracy. But I and many others who opposed the candidacy of Rosenkranz were not able to convince [them] with our arguments.”

Since the time Jörg Haider headed it, the FPÖ made an effort not to present itself publicly as antisemitic, explained Muzikant.

“But they kept on expressing their real positions in the cellars. They would be publicly strong against any antisemitic expression; they would harshly condemn antisemitism and support all measures to fight antisemitism. That’s their facade.

“However, when meeting together, they would sing SS songs. Nobody in the FPÖ would openly admit that he is antisemitic because then he would be expelled from the party. But I know nobody in the FPÖ who credibly fights antisemitism and distances himself totally from the past and denounces it.

On the issue of Israel, their position is not very clear, he continued.

“At certain times, they were very pro-Israeli, then less, then they became pro-Putin. It’s not clear where they are on this subject. But they are so anti-Muslim and anti-Islamist that they probably say, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ I don’t see their big love for Israel in Austria and Germany," he said. 

“It’s different with [PVV Party leader] Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and with Meloni in Italy. I had long discussions with our friends in Israel. There are Likud members who believe that the FPÖ are Israel’s friends. I don’t see it this way. It’s only an attempt to get a [stamp of approval]. I think that for them, the end justifies all means. I am calling all my Israeli friends to hold to what we say in Europe: Stick to the Jewish communities.”

Regarding his expectations from a possible new conservative and social-democrat government in Austria, Muzikant stated, “Honestly, we don’t know what new government we shall have.”

“I don’t like prophesying. It will depend on who will get which ministry and what will be included in the coalition’s agreement. It is true that our relations with the ÖVP, the liberal NEOS, and the Greens are now much better than those with certain parts of the SPÖ." 

Muzikant said that SPÖ chairman Andreas Babler is not dealing with foreign policy, and he passed it on to the hands of former pupils of former chancellor Bruno Kreisky. "On the Israel issue, we are not sharing the same line with them. I will recommend not to wait and see what the next government will look like – and if we can keep the positive line that we had during the last years regarding Israel and the fight against antisemitism.”