*Originally published in 2025 and preserved as part of our archive project.Get E-International Relations delivered directly to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work.

Long attached to the principles of international law and human rights, Europe is now witnessing a political shift that redefines its stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Across the continent, far-right parties once known for their antisemitic rhetoric are forging close ties with Israel, turning the Palestinian question into a fault line of ideological realignment. In this new configuration, solidarity with Israel becomes a symbol of civilizational allegiance, while support for Palestinian rights is increasingly framed as subversive or extremist. Behind the façade of neutrality, this alliance blurs historical responsibility, corrodes democratic values, and weakens Europe’s moral authority on the global stage.

European engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has historically been characterized by a principled approach grounded in international law, human rights standards, and advocacy for a two-state solution. For decades, the European Union and individual European states maintained a position of "critical engagement" with Israel, condemning settlement expansion, supporting Palestinian institution-building, and consistently reaffirming Palestinian rights to self-determination. This approach reflected Europe's post-World War II commitment to a rules-based international order and the continent's own complicated colonial history in the Middle East.

However, the rise of populist and far-right movements across Europe has precipitated a profound shift in this diplomatic stance. European discourse has increasingly adopted a posture of proclaimed "neutrality" that effectively silences criticism of Israeli military actions and occupation policies. This transformation is evident in multiple policy domains: from the refusal to condemn documented war crimes to the aggressive criminalization of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in countries like Germany and France. Far-right parties that have gained power in countries like Italy and Hungary have championed this realignment, often framing it as a rejection of "biased" traditional diplomacy.

Perhaps most troubling is the systematic erasure of rights-based language from European diplomatic discourse. Terms like "colonization," "occupation," and "apartheid"—once employed by European diplomats and scholars to analyze the structural conditions in Palestine—have been gradually replaced with depoliticized frameworks emphasizing "complex conflict," "religious tensions," or "security challenges." This linguistic shift represents more than semantic preference; it constitutes a fundamental........

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