Elections were held Sunday in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Given Israel's current reality, it is hard to imagine that many of us are particularly preoccupied with an election in a single German state. We have a war, weighty security questions, a wounded society and an election campaign of our own. And yet, it is worth looking in that direction for a moment. Sometimes, what happens far away can tell us something about our own choices as well.
The polls proved accurate. Alternative for Germany, the AfD, emerged as the largest political force in Saxony-Anhalt. A party that for years was considered part of the fringes of German politics is no longer on the fringes.
From an Israeli perspective, one can even see an advantage in this. The party campaigns against immigration and the Muslim presence in Germany. Some of its members voice support for Israel, and it is not among the European political forces that have made the war in Gaza the central test of their attitude toward us.
From a narrowly Israeli point of view, the equation almost seems self-evident: They are fighting radical Islam, they support Israel and they rarely lecture us. So what is the problem? I have no intention of comparing Germany in 2026 with Germany in 1933. Such a comparison would be wrong and would do an injustice to history. Germany today is an established democracy that has made an extraordinary effort to confront its past. But historical memory is not meant only for ceremonies and memorials. It is also supposed to shape our judgment in the present, especially when immediate interests tempt us to disregard it.
European history teaches us that nationalism does not always stop where it began. Today, the Muslim immigrant is the "other." Many Israelis may understand that position. But when a society begins asking who truly belongs, who is a foreigner and who poses a threat to its identity, Jews have good reason to listen carefully. Not because every nationalist is an antisemite, and not because every right-wing party is a precursor to fascism.
This, in my view, is where a question arises that Israel's election campaign is barely addressing. The parties are talking about security, the economy, the judicial system, religion and state, and the day after the war. Rightly so. But Israel is not merely a country grappling with its domestic problems. It is also the nation-state of the Jewish people.
What happens to Jewish communities in Europe, and which political forces are gaining strength around them, is therefore also Israel's concern. I want to know what those seeking to lead us think about it.
Is every European party that supports Israel a worthy ally? Is support for Israel that stems from hostility toward Muslims enough for us to close our eyes to other elements of that party's worldview? And above all, where does the State of Israel's responsibility toward Jews living in Europe begin and end as the political reality around them changes?
These are questions we should be asking the candidates in the coming election. Whoever is elected will have to make decisions in dealing with a changing Europe.
There will be interests, and there will be compromises. That is how states conduct themselves. But Israel must not allow immediate interests to erase the memory of 90 years ago, which in historical terms is no more than a moment.
And if Jewish memory becomes a consideration only when it aligns with Israel's interests of the moment, what remains of the commandment to remember?
