A curious tail of Ouroboros: the marriage of the far-right and Zionism
As a socialist and an athiest of Jewish heritage, I have never been able to understand why the far-right seems to have some sort of cwtch-up with the State of Israel. It defies both history and morality. These are the same political forces that once trafficked in blood libels, Holocaust denial, and pogroms and now they’re wrapping themselves in the Israeli flag? It beggars belief. No, it’s not just bewildering, it’s grotesque. And yet, it reveals everything about what modern antisemitism has become: weaponised, slippery, strategic, and rebranded.
It sounds like a contradiction: how can the far right, historically drenched in antisemitism, profess love for the state of Israel? The answer is ugly, cynical, and deeply revealing of the ideologies at play. What unites these unlikely admirers of Israel isn’t respect for Jewish life or history. It’s nationalism, Islamophobia, and in many cases, apocalyptic religious delusion.
For white nationalists and the new far right, Israel isn’t loved because it’s Jewish, it's loved in spite of it. What they see in Israel is a blueprint for their own fantasies: a nation built around one ethnic group, fortified borders, militarised nationalism, and unapologetic hostility toward perceived outsiders. Tommy Robinson, founder of the virulently anti-Muslim English Defence League, has paraded himself through Israel posing on tanks and fawning over the IDF. He doesn't hide his admiration, he broadcasts it. The irony, of course, is that his base is soaked in antisemitic conspiracy theories. But Robinson, like many of his peers, doesn’t see the contradiction. To him, Jews in Israel are acceptable because they are fighting Muslims. It’s not solidarity; it’s Islamophobia dressed up as respect.
Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) posing on an IDF Tank on the Golan
Steve Bannon, the ideological architect of Trumpism, also waves the Israeli flag when convenient. His Breitbart empire opened a Jerusalem bureau, and he often praises Netanyahu. But behind the curtain, Bannon promotes the very globalist tropes and dog whistles that fuel modern antisemitism. To Bannon and his ilk, Jews are simultaneously the architects of global decay and heroic warriors if they carry rifles in the West Bank. Welcome to the schizophrenia of the modern right. In Germany, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party regularly declares its support for Israel. Some members have even visited Yad Vashem. Meanwhile, within the party ranks, Holocaust minimisation, Nazi nostalgia, and anti-Jewish conspiracies thrive. Why the doublethink? Because being pro-Israel lets them launder their reputation. It’s a sleight of hand: love Jews over there, hate them over here.
https://www.tetleystldr.com/tetleystldr-blog/we-need-to-talk-about-the-afd
Nigel Farage is cut from similar cloth. Though never as overtly antisemitic as others, he’s trafficked in Soros-bashing and vague 'globalist' and 'cultural marxism' rhetoric: all with a knowing wink ((( ))) to those who understand the dog whistles. Yet he’s happy to praise Israel as a plucky, nationalist democracy. His admiration is less about Jewish resilience and more about the idea of a strong, closed-border state.
Steve Bannon, Breitbart founder with Marine Le Pen
Then there’s the American Evangelical Right, whose love for Israel is the most sinister of all. Unlike the nationalist right, they don’t admire Israel for its strength: they admire it as a pawn in their apocalyptic chess game. According to the Book of Revelation and popular End Times theology, Jesus won’t return until certain conditions are met:
- Jews must return to Israel,
- the Third Temple must be rebuilt (likely triggering a global war),
- and then, finally, Jesus can come back to rapture the faithful.
Spoiler: Jews who don’t convert get torched in this narrative.
This isn’t support for Jews. It’s a death cult with a prologue. Evangelical megachurches funnel millions to Israeli organisations preparing for the Third Temple, not because they care about Jewish heritage, but because they want to set the stage for Armageddon. They love Jews the way arsonists love matchsticks.
Figures like Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence don’t just nod along with this vision, they enact policy based on it. Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital wasn’t about peace or justice; it was a symbolic kickstart to the End Times.
What unites the Bannonites, Robinsons, Farages, AfDs, and Evangelicals is not genuine support for Jewish people. It’s a mix of shared authoritarian dreams, geopolitical opportunism, and theological delusion. Their love for Israel is not an antidote to antisemitism, it’s just another twisted form of it. It’s time to call it what it is: a strategic fetishisation of Israel by people who, in any other context, would sooner embrace a swastika than a Star of David.
The antisemites who love Israel don’t love Jews: they love power, purity, and prophecy. And Israel, for now, is a convenient symbol of all three.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, ultra-nationalist, former terrorist and head of Israeli Security
The twisted irony of this is that this toxic romance goes both ways. Just as far-right movements profess love for Israel, some right-wing Zionists return the affection. Why? Because they see in the global far right a reflection of their own ethno-nationalist vision. The unapologetic nationalism, the obsession with borders and identity, the disdain for international norms, these resonate with a hardline Zionist agenda that views liberal democracy and human rights discourse as existential threats. The rise of ethno-populist leaders in the West has been welcomed by some Israeli officials and supporters who believe such alliances protect Israel from criticism.
https://www.tetleystldr.com/tetleystldr-blog/we-need-to-talk-about-itamar-ben-gvir
Netanyahu cultivated close ties with authoritarian leaders like Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, despite their open flirtations with antisemitic tropes. What mattered most was their support for Israeli policy and their hostility to Palestinian rights. In this arrangement, antisemitism is overlooked or rationalised, as long as the far right offers diplomatic cover and political support. The logic is chilling: better an antisemitic ally who backs annexation than a progressive Jew who defends human rights.
Daniella Weiss: batshit crazy Ultra Zionist Settler
The result? A grotesque alliance where both sides get what they want: far-right figures launder their hate through pro-Israel posturing, and right-wing Zionists secure power through alliances with those who would have once marched against them.
But there's also a deeper psychological dynamic at play. Much of this alliance operates on projection and distraction. Far-right ideologues project their own authoritarian impulses onto imagined enemies, 'globalists' 'elites' and 'cosmopolitans' - terms that thinly veil antisemitic tropes. Supporting Israel lets them distract from their own hate by claiming moral high ground. It’s not love, it’s strategic narcissism. And nowhere is this narcissism more glaring than in figures like Elon Musk. While claiming to defend free speech, Musk has platformed antisemitic content and conspiracy theorists on X (formerly Twitter), all while posturing as a defender of Western values and occasionally praising Israel. It’s performance politics designed to shield his image while enabling the very forces he claims to oppose. The far right loves Israel the way Musk loves himself: opportunistically, conditionally, and without a shred of genuine empathy.
The far-right/Zionist alliance is more than just a grotesque convenience, it’s a feedback loop of mutual radicalisation that risks consuming both sides. Like the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros: the serpent devouring its own tail, this relationship is self-consuming. Each side bolsters the other’s extremes, feeding off shared delusions of purity, fear of outsiders, and a siege mentality that makes retreat impossible. In embracing the far right, Israel ties its fate to movements that historically despise Jews, and still do when politically expedient. In empowering Israeli hardliners, the global far right reinforces a model of ethno-state nationalism it hopes to replicate elsewhere. But this spiral cannot sustain itself.
The further Israel aligns with authoritarians and Christian eschatologists, the more it alienates liberal democracies, Jews in the diaspora, and ultimately, its own founding values. It is a pact rooted in short-term power and long-term decay. The snake will not stop until it has devoured itself, and by then, and as we a seeing in real time, whatever shredded remains of Israel’s moral legitimacy, if indeed it ever had any to start with, will be gone with it.
The world has gone mad. If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to look at the rest of the blogs on www.TetleysTLDR.com. They're free to view, there's no paywall, they aren't monetised and I won't ask you to buy me a coffee. Also please free to share anything you find of interest, we only get the message out if people are aware of it. Just a leftie, standing in front of another leftie, asking to be read. All the best, Tetley
