The surge in support for extremism that’s taken Germany close to the edge - The Jewish Chronicle

Germany has voted. The most important result? The likely successor to Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz. However, this depends on whether the only numerically possible majority of democratic parties – namely the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats – reach a coalition agreement.

The “traffic light” coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals collapsed in November due to contradictory approaches to budget policy against a backdrop of poor economic performance. As a result, economic issues dominated the election campaign in the weeks following the coalition’s breakup.

However, after several Islamist-motivated or related knife and car-ramming attacks – and a long period in which municipalities were overwhelmed by the intake of refugees – migration and the fight against Islamist terrorism moved to the forefront of the debate.

The central issue for Germany’s and Europe’s future – support for Ukraine and strengthening the Bundeswehr (armed forces), which is currently unable to make a meaningful contribution to Nato – played no role in the election debates, despite the US stepping back from its security guarantees in Europe. Likewise, security policy in the Middle East and the partnership with Israel were not major topics in the campaigns of the major democratic parties.

What was new and alarming was that parties at both ends of the political spectrum deliberately used anti-Israel rhetoric to make political offers to antisemitic elements of the electorate.

All parties from the now-defunct traffic-light coalition suffered losses, with the Social Democrats and Liberals hit particularly hard. The Liberals even lost their parliamentary representation. The conservative Christian Democrats gained support, but one in five Germans voted for a right-wing extremist party that openly spreads racism and questions democracy and the rule of law – the AfD.

Although not outwardly adopting a Nazi aesthetic, the AfD is a party where antisemites and National Socialists have found a political home. Among its members are individuals who describe themselves as “the friendly face of National Socialism”, downplay the SS crimes against humanity and dismiss the Nazi era as mere “bird sh*t in more than 1,000 years of successful German history”.

The party has always opposed Jewish religious freedom when it comes to ritual slaughter. In the past, it attempted to present itself as a friend of Israel. However, it has now made a sharp turn and strongly opposes arms deliveries to Israel. This party is not alone on this issue. It aligns with the former ruling party of East Germany, now renamed Die Linke (“The Left”), which surprisingly re-entered parliament with significant gains by combining social populism, anti-fascist folklore and a trendy presence on TikTok.

At the end of last year, leading members left the party over its failure to distance itself from antisemitism. A newly elected Berlin MP “unreservedly” supports what he calls the Palestinians’ right to resistance. The Left and the AfD together form the pro-Putin bloc. Despite differing justifications, they both want to deny Ukraine any support for self-defence and have announced plans to block new debt financing for this and Bundeswehr upgrades.

A third party in the pro-Moscow bloc – an offshoot of The Left that combines anti-Israel and pro-Russian rhetoric with a mix of The Left’s social populism and the AfD’s racism – missed entering parliament by just 13,000 votes. Had it made it in, a majority would only have been possible through a coalition of all democratic centre parties against the pro-Moscow bloc. This underscores how close this election brought Germany to the edge.

What does this mean for policy towards the Jewish state? Parties that prioritise their dislike of Netanyahu’s coalition over Israel’s right to defend its existence have gained dramatic relevance. These are the same forces that play into Putin’s script. However, this shift is unlikely to have an immediate impact on German foreign policy in the next four years.

Friedrich Merz, the man most likely to become chancellor, demonstrated in a widely discussed policy speech last year that he understands Germany’s foreign policy role and intends to fulfill it. Immediately after the election he signalled a shift in tone towards support for Israel. Despite the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest, Merz invited the Israeli prime minister to Germany and assured him that he would not be arrested.

His potential coalition partner is already furious. Over the past few years, the leader of the Christian Democrats made it clear that the moralising stance taken again and again by the German government after Hamas’s genocidal massacre on October 7 would be a thing of the past under his leadership.

He has stated that, under his chancellorship, Israel would receive the German weapons it needs for self-defence. There is also hope that, after Unrwa’s entanglement in Hamas’s genocidal attack on October 7, the agency will no longer receive German funding.

The new government will, however, need to address the resentment that three extremist parties have exploited for populist gains. To do this, it must revive the economy, improve efforts to combat terrorism and radicalisation, and take effective legislative and administrative action to dispel the impression that the state has lost control over migration.

And the democratic parties must jointly convey to the population the necessities of military defence of our freedom and act accordingly. If they fail to meet these challenges successfully, the outlook is grim. This election has brought Germany dangerously close to the edge. It must not take another step in this direction.

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