Why Israel Gets Staunch Support From Central, Eastern Europe

Despite mounting international pressure over its war on Gaza, Israel can lean on central and eastern European countries as faithful allies, for historical and ideological reasons.

Their solidarity came to the fore on Wednesday, when Austria and Germany broke ranks with European Union peers to argue against a review ordered by Brussels of an EU-Israel cooperation deal.

EU diplomats have said 17 of the bloc's 27 nations wanted to re-examine the pact, which has been in force for 25 years, to pressure Israel over its war in Gaza.

Joanna Dyduch, from the Institute of the Middle and Far East at the Jagiellonian University in Poland, said Austria and Germany felt compelled to "compensate Jewish people for their fate during World War II".

In that respect, they stand with eastern neighbours in Europe that shook off totalitarian Communist rule steered by Moscow over three decades ago, Dyduch said.

Those countries, spanning from the Czech Republic to Bulgaria, share a "fear of being conquered... betrayed or being left alone," she said.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and their accession to the EU and NATO, the ex-communist countries have generally swapped a pro-Arab stance promoted by Moscow for Washington's view of global affairs.

Netanyahu 'Exploiting Divisions' 

Their closeness to Israel also stems from segments of their populations fleeing to Israel to escape the Holocaust, and the antisemitism that was rife under Communist rule.

Those historic reasons have gradually diminished, but another phenomenon is surging in some countries: a distaste for liberal democracy.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Slovakia's Robert Fico and former Czech president Milos Zeman have all been aligned to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political beliefs.

Netanyahu pursues a policy of "exploiting divisions", and this is why he has forged friendly relations with countries like Hungary, said Azriel Bermant, from the Institute of International Relations in Prague.

It is particularly useful for Netanyahu to be able to count on a leader such as Orban, who can try to block decisions made by Brussels, much to the EU's chagrin, he told AFP.

During a recent Netanyahu visit to Budapest, Hungary announced it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, which has an outstanding arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Another factor shoring up support for Israel in central and eastern Europe is the "narrative that Israel is on the frontline of the war against Islam" which allows local far-right movements to "whitewash their anti-Semitism", said Bermant.

 'Europeanised' Poland 

There is also a nexus between politics and business, even if strategic cooperation between Israel and countries in the European region remains modest.

Last year, Slovakia became the first NATO member to buy the Israeli air defence system Barak MX for 560 million euros ($630 million).

In 2023, Germany signed a deal with Israel to buy the Arrow-3 anti-missile shield for an estimated $3.5 billion as Russia's invasion of Ukraine increased Europe's hunger for arms.

Dyduch said that Poland was an exception in the region, as its stance on the Gaza conflict is closer to Brussels' and "more Europeanised" compared with eastern peers.

Poland has distanced itself from Israel on some occasions, even after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,218 dead according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

It has advocated "the preservation of Palestinian rights" after Israel's massive and broad retaliation claimed at least 53,762 lives, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Warsaw, a faithful backer of Kyiv, is also upset with "Israel's reluctance to provide military support to Ukraine and its refusal to explicitly condemn the Kremlin", said Dyduch.

Despite supporting Israel in the past, Poland acknowledged the State of Palestine during a UN General Assembly vote in May 2024.

In the same vote, the Czech Republic and Hungary were against, while Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Romania abstained.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)