Amid a feeling of intense international isolation, various elections are underway or have recently taken place around the world that – believe it or not – are giving Israelis a reason to smile. Well, if not a broad, full-toothed smile – a rare commodity these days – at least a half-grin.
No, this is not about last month’s Eurovision contest, where Eden Golan’s fifth-place showing was held up by some as proof of European support, not only for Golan and her song “Hurricane,” but for Israel and the entire Zionist enterprise itself.
To support this claim, it was even stressed that were the results based only on the vote of the audience, made up of regular people – and not juries composed of members of the artistic world who bend toward following a herd, virtue-signaling mentality when it comes to Israel – then Golan would have come in second place.
Now, however, results are coming in from elections for politicians – not favorite songs – indicating that Israel’s position in the world might not be as bad as the impression gleaned from social media posts and rhythmic chants of “intifada revolution” on American college campuses.
Israel was not on the ballot in recent elections for the European Parliament, primary balloting in the US, and voting in South Africa. Still, the results of those elections, where pro-Israel candidates fared or are faring well while anti-Israel candidates are struggling, is cause for some mild satisfaction. Here is a look at those results.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament, the directly elected legislative body of the European Union representing the citizens of its 27 member states, held elections from June 6 to 9.
The various national parties are arranged in the parliament into seven main groupings based on ideological commonalities: two groups on the hard Left, one on the Center-Left, one on the Center-Right, and two on the hard Right. An eighth group is composed of independents, but in the current situation, it includes parties on the far Right, such as Germany’s AfD Party.
The good news for Israel is that two left-wing groupings – made up of the most anti-Israel parties in the parliament – lost significant ground, while the parties on the Right and far Right that are supportive of Israel gained seats. But, since nothing in life is black or white, this is somewhat of a mixed blessing since some of these parties, such as AfD in Germany and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, have an antisemitic past and, as is the case with AfD, some say even an antisemitic present.
According to a European Coalition for Israel (ECI) ranking of the groups according to their position and stands on Israel, the two right-wing groupings – the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) – are the best when it comes to Israel, with the ECR scoring 92.30 on a scale of 100, and the ID scoring 87.97. These two groupings gained ground in the European Parliament, with the ECR gaining about 30 seats (the final results are not yet tallied) and the ID – which includes Le Pen’s party – picking up about 20 seats.
On the other end of the scale when it comes to the ECI’s ranking regarding Israel is The Left (GUE/NGL) and the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group, with The Left having a lowly 11.52 point score when it comes to Israel, and the Greens/EFA coming in at 31.59. The Greens/EFA took a drubbing, losing 18 seats from 2019, and The Left saw its power fall from 41 to 36 seats.
The two largest groupings, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the center-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D), held their ground and will continue to dominate the parliament.
Regarding Israel, the EPP has a 68.20 ranking, and the S&D scores only 37.60 points. Between those two is the seventh grouping called Renew Europe, which consists of European liberal parties, such as Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party, which has a 53.31 score on Israel. That grouping was one of the big losers of the elections, losing some 20 seats.
MAKE NO mistake, these elections were not about Israel, though some of the left-wing parties – notably in France and Spain – made the war in Gaza a major campaign issue. Nevertheless, the results – having fewer rabidly anti-Israel members of the European Parliament and more with an understanding of the country’s security concerns – will have an impact.
The most significant impact will be on the parliament’s ability to vet the EU’s governing board – the European Commission – and, most importantly, both its president and its foreign policy czar. Center-right German politician Ursula von der Leyen appears poised to continue as EC president, something not bad for Israel as she is deemed in Jerusalem to be fair overall and friendly toward the Jewish state.
The big change will be in the position of foreign policy czar, with Spanish politician Josep Borrell on his way out. For Israel, this is a positive development, as he has proven to be problematic.
Since October 7, Borrell has accused Israel of using hunger as “a weapon of war”; said that during the recent rescue operation of four hostages, Israel carried out “another massacre of civilians”; and warned that Israel’s continuation of its military campaign in Rafah may have an impact on EU-Israel relations.
Borrell is expected to be replaced by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, whom diplomatic officials said is much more positively predisposed toward Israel, just as Estonia is much more favorable to Israel inside the EU than Spain.
On ECI’s rankings of the European parties on Israel, Kallas’ Estonian Reform Party has a 67.35 score, including 70.43 since October 7, while Borrell’s Spanish Socialist Workers Party scored 37.07 points overall, and 42.39 since October 7, significantly less favorable toward Israel than Kallas’ party.
Daniel Shadmy, the spokesman for ELNET, a non-profit organization devoted to building Israeli-European relations, said that the main topics in these elections were immigration and security, which “connects very much to the issue of Israel’s war since October 7. The growing Right and far-right wing parties in the European elections have a direct line to what is happening here and the threats of terrorism,” he said.
Shadmy predicted that “all in all, the relations between the EU and Israel are not expected to change dramatically; they will remain the same or be better. Whether we like it or not, the turn to the Right by Europe is something that so far is positive for Israel, because they are talking about similar threats that we are facing and have been more supportive of Israel over the last eight months.”
US Primary Elections
Given the attention the media has shined on anti-Israel demonstrations on American campuses and on threats by progressives to punish US President Joe Biden in November for his support for Israel, one could imagine that progressive, anti-Israel candidates are cleaning up in congressional primary races across the US.
One would be mistaken.
In several races over the last few months for Democratic congressional seats, some of which have seen the war in Gaza feature prominently in their campaign, pro-Israel candidates are coming out on top.
The biggest test of all will come on Tuesday in New York, where an anti-Israel member of the progressive “Squad,” Jamaal Bowman, is facing George Latimer in the Democratic primary, with the winner sure to go on to victory in the November elections in New York’s deep blue 16th congressional district.
In a district with large Jewish and black populations, Bowman defeated Eliot Engel in 2020, one of the staunchest supporters of Israel in the House at the time. Within no time, Bowman turned into one of Israel’s staunchest opponents.
Bowman has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, called Hamas’s claims of sexual violence “propaganda” and a “lie,” given a platform to virulent anti-Israel voices such as Norman Finkelstein, and referred to AIPAC – whose United Democracy Project PAC has spent millions to support Latimer – as a “racist organization that has full control of Congress as they fund everyone.”
Even the hard-left J Street has rescinded its endorsement for Bowman, and polls show Latimer is going into Tuesday’s race with a strong 17% lead. If he wins, it will be the latest victory of moderates over progressive anti-Israel candidates and reflect a trend toward the middle – and away from the far-left – in some Democratic districts.
In Oregon, Maxine Dexter last month defeated Sushila Jayapal, the progressive sister of a congresswoman from Washington who is among Israel’s fiercest congressional opponents.
During the campaign, Jayapal supported withholding weapons from Israel and voted on a local county board against a resolution supporting Israel after October 7.
In a New Jersey primary two weeks ago, Bill Pascrell, a strong pro-Israel congressman, easily defeated Syrain-born Mohamed Khairullah, who claimed that by supporting Israel, Pascrell had turned his back on the Muslim constituents in his district.
Pascrell’s home base is Paterson, New Jersey, where he once served as mayor, and which has a large Palestinian population.
After New York’s primaries on Tuesday, the next big challenge for the progressive Squad will be in Missouri. Cori Bush, another strident critic of Israel, is facing an uphill battle in August against pro-Israel St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell. If both Bush and Bowman lose, which is likely, then progressive anti-Israel voices in Congress will have taken a significant hit.
South Africa
Another ray of light for Israel came from the June 1 election results in South Africa, where the African National Congress (ANC) Party fared poorly and was forced for the first time in three decades to form a coalition to govern.
South Africa has turned into one of Israel’s most vocal critics on the world scene, initiating action against the Jewish state for allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and earning the moniker of being Hamas’s advocate on the world stage.
The intensity of Pretoria’s anti-Israel positions at every turn will likely be toned down a notch as a result of these elections and the ANC’s need to work in the governing coalition with the Democratic Alliance and two other smaller parties that in no way share its anti-Israel positions. The ANC won 157 seats in the 400-seat parliament, while the DA received 87.
The DA opposed South Africa’s move against Israel at The Hague, though it was not expected to force the government to withdraw from the case. The party, however, has said that the ANC “deliberately abused and inflamed divisions” around the conflict in Gaza to “distract from its dismal failures in government.”
As opposed to ANC leader and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – who at a campaign rally chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and has turned South Africa into Hamas’ international cheerleader – the DA’s position is that “for peace to be possible, rationality rather than radicalism must win the day on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides of this conflict.”
Two other parties in the governing coalition, the Inkatha Freedom Party with 17 seats and the Patriotic Alliance with nine have articulated pro-Israel positions in the past, especially PA leader Gayton McKenzie, who has said his party will not turn its back on Israel because of God’s promise in the Bible to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it.
And in a presentation of party positions that appeared before the elections in the South African Jewish Report, the Inkatha Freedom Party said it “deeply regrets the biased position taken by the South African government, which serves the ANC’s interests above the interests of our country and our people. We value the strong partnerships South Africa and Israel have enjoyed for so many years, and don’t believe this history should simply be discarded.”
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