Western Europe is “on the decline” amid clear demographic changes which are leading to the increased radicalization of their societies and to moral bankruptcy, the director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The unusually blunt remarks came just a day before a fierce diplomatic row erupted with the United Kingdom over its imposition of sanctions against Israel.
“They are declining. They are changing. And they are not changing to the positive side,” Eden Bar Tal said in an address at the ministry in Jerusalem honoring a veteran American Jewish leader. “We can see very clear demographic changes within Western European countries. Those changes are leading to social and political changes, dramatic ones.”
He added that the increased radicalization in these societies, which came to full view following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, was conspicuous.
“They are being polarized, and you see that what we used to call a center and moderates are shrinking, and more aggressive powers and more aggressive actors are taking part in those countries,” he said.
The event, honoring longtime B’nai B’rith head Dan Mariaschin, who retired from his position as CEO of the world’s oldest Jewish organization this summer after nearly four decades, drew multiple foreign ambassadors.
In his keynote address at the gathering, Bar Tal also cautioned against the “red and green alliance,” the political convergence of the radical left and Islamists.
“Radicals from the left, radicals from Islamic jihadism ... are converging in external and internal attacks in Western countries,” he said. “You can see that in the West, but you can see that more clearly throughout Europe, especially Western Europe,” he continued.
“What happened to you, Europe? What happened especially to Western Europe? Where are your values? Where is your historical memory and historical responsibility? You are supporting the anti-Israeli forces. Who are the anti-Israeli forces? Jihadist radicals. The ones that want the West to be dissolved,” he said.
”And I’m told by those Europeans that they are true friends of ours. So I told them that we learned recently, in the last two years, a new world, ‘frenemies,’ and we have to be realistic about that,” he added.
“Friends support each other during a war. They are not sanctioning them and not even discussing them and certainly don’t embargo essential weaponry from the only democracy in the Middle East facing those radicals and jihadism,” he said.
“It’s a shameful part of European history, and it’s not the end of it. I think bad news is also to come. Bad news for Israel, bad news for the Jewish people. But more than that, it’s the bankruptcy of Western Europe,” he added.
Mariaschin decried the “tsunami of hate” being normalized around the globe.
“The storm winds of blind hatred and antisemitism are buffeting us from every side,” he said. “This is more than just a perfect storm of hate. It is a tsunami of hate,” he added.
The crudest anti-Jewish tropes are now becoming normalized, he continued.
“Prestigious universities and their administrators have looked the other way as Jewish students are pilloried,” he said. “Many political figures in the United States and abroad who should know better are going along for the ride, fearful of losing power and influence to the insurgents and their followers in an era in which many simply do not want to be confused by the facts.”
The American Jewish leader stressed that unity was essential at this precarious moment in history.
“We need to find again a way toward more than just a semblance of unity in these unprecedented uncertain times. Finding that consensus is a must because if we are weak within our own community, we will not be strong enough,” he said.
