What should best be seen as a cultural reaction in Europe to the leftist-dominated politics of the 70's up till today, Moderate and Far Right parties advanced during the recent elections, winning several seats in the European Parliament. This development made political establishments all across Europe nervous, realizing the recent anti-EU and anti-leftist sentiment is growing beyond their Nanny State control.

Confusingly, one of the groups who claims to feel threatened by this trend is the Jewish community in Europe:

The Paris-based European Jewish Congress (EJC), an umbrella organization for Jewish communities in Europe, said: “As we assess the results of this week’s elections, one disturbing trend has already crystallized; the gains made by extreme-right groups is a Europe-wide phenomenon. The success of the far-right and nationalistic parties that won seats in the elections on the basis of racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic platforms points to a clear erosion of tolerance and a clarion call to European officials to immediately engage in intercultural dialogue. The success of such rabid groups as The Freedom Party in the Netherlands, the Freedom Party in Austria (FPO), the Danish People’s Party, the British National Party, and Jobbik in Hungary, among others, will sadly only serve to embolden those who espouse the dangerous concepts of extreme nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.”

Although these and other Jewish groups are not alone in their concerns about rising anti-Semitism in Europe, their fear of the far right often obscures the indisputable fact that some of the greatest threats to Jews (and Israel) in contemporary Europe stem from the left side of the political aisle. Indeed, it is no big secret that all across the European continent, left-wing intellectuals are playing a crucial role in making anti-Semitism seem respectable. Of course, they are (usually) careful to promote their hatred of Jews only indirectly. Instead, modern anti-Semitism is typically disguised as anti-Zionism and an obsession with Palestinian victimhood.

In any case, right-wing groups such as Geert Wilder’s Party for Freedom in the Netherlands and the Danish People’s Party, far from being the purveyors of “rabid” racism and anti-Semitism that the EJC claims, are some of the best allies that Jews (and Israel) will find in Europe today. In fact, the Danish People’s Party is a strong supporter of Israel as well as the US-led War on Terrorism, of which Israel is a major beneficiary. It has called for stronger sanctions against totalitarian regimes and dictatorships, especially those in the Islamic world. It has also supported academic grants for specific research into terrorism and Islamism. For his part, Wilders calls himself a true friend of Israel. During a recent visit to Jerusalem, Wilders said: “We see Christians and Jews as part of one culture. When I’m here I’m with my people, my country, my values. I feel more at home here than in many other European countries. Israel’s a democracy – it’s everything we stand for.”

As Jews in the multicultural metropol of Malmö in Sweden are experiencing every day, the Far Left is allying with Muslim Arabs in an effort to mobilize anti-Israeli and, occasionally, anti-Semitic rage. Most Jews in Europe have been caught off-guard and the reason to this is that they've failed to understand leftist psychology. Leftists began turning against Israel shortly after the war in Iraq, making the Palestinian cause their own, after "realizing" that the advantages of the US-backed Israeli military left the Palestinians in an underdog position. Add to this that Israel is a pro-American, capitalist-industrial nation, and you have all the ingredients for a traditional leftist enemy.

While it is true that the "Far Right" (read: National Socialists/White Nationalists/Fascists) shares the criticism of Israel with the Far Left, the parties that advanced in Western Europe don't belong to this group. They are radical Conservative parties, many of them socialist, and, as noted by the Brussels Journal, pro-Israel and pro-Jewish in general. Whether or not this is a populist move by soft nationalists is besides the point. Compare this with any moderate leftist party in Europe, which is typically strongly critical of American-Israeli foreign policy.

So, my Jewish and right-wing friends, let's face it: right now you are each other's best friends in a political climate where leftism is mobilizing anarchist tendencies in society to cause chaos for its own sake. The GOP is stranded, Obama is going increasingly soft on issues in the Middle East to score populist points, the European media suffers from leftist bias, and even the most radical Conservatives in the West barely dare to touch the issue of radical Islam and third world immigration. How about this new meme: Western Conservatism becomes a Jewish cause?