Israel’s Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli on Muslim Migrants and the Spread of Antisemitism in Europe

It’s not rightwing, neo-Nazi Europeans who are spreading antisemitism throughout Europe, but rather, the Muslim migrants who have been allowed by the tens of millions to settle in Europe. That is the message delivered by Israel’s Minister for the Diaspora, Amichai Chikli, at a meeting of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on February 16. More on his observations about why he opposed the hostages-for-terrorists exchange, and most importantly, what explains the spread of antisemitism in Europe —which will come as no surprise to readers of Jihad Watch— can be found here: “European rise in antisemitism a result of Islamic migration, Diaspora minister says,” by Eliav Breuer, Jerusalem Post, February 16, 2025:

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) explained his “no” vote on the ongoing hostage deal at the start of the 50th annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem on Sunday.

In a one-on-one conversation with The Jerusalem Post’s editor-in-chief, Zvika Klein, in front of the crowd, Chikli said that before he entered that government meeting, he had not made up his mind, but that during the meeting, after hearing the assessments from various security officials, he decided to oppose it.

The reason for my opposition was that I understood who the prisoners were that we were releasing in exchange for our hostages. This deal includes the release of 700 terrorists – terror experts with records of dozens of attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis and wounded thousands. These are the same terrorists responsible for the Second Intifada and for other severe attacks.

For me, this deal is reminiscent of the Shalit deal. It’s a problematic deal because it empties our prisons. I’ll give an example: The commander of Hamas’s attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 was a terrorist released in the Shalit deal. You cannot fix a bad deal with an even worse one,” Chikli said.

The “Shalit deal” is a reference to the exchange of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israel soldier, Gilad Shalt, in 2011. According to Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, 82% of those included in that swap returned to terrorism. One of those released was Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attack.

Chikli added, “I’m stating here and now that I will also be unable to support the second stage of the deal. For me, it will actually be even simpler. I cannot vote in favor of the next victims—whether in Gush Etzion, Megiddo, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Afula, or anywhere else.”…

He knows that many Israelis will die as a result of the current exchange — those “next victims…in Gush Etzion, Megiddo, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Afula, and anywhere else.” They will be killed by some of the prisoners Israel is now setting free, and Chikli, weighing those future deaths, whose numbers can only be guessed at, against the continued imprisonment and mistreatment of the 50 Israeli hostages believed to be still alive in Gaza, has chosen to oppose the hostages-for-terrorists swap.

“Antisemitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration,” he said. “The European right wing parties have a point, because they realise the problem and are presenting a solution.

“They understand the challenge of radical Islam and they are willing to take the necessary steps. So many countries have it completely wrong. Look at the UK, for example, I’m not sure that what is happening there is reversable. These countries need to get a hold of the problem.”

The UK has been unwilling to halt the massive Muslim migration, especially from Pakistan, that it now endures. It took years for the UK police, under great pressure, to finally begin to address the scandal of the Pakistani grooming gangs who seduced, drugged, and gang-raped — handing their young victims around like candy — tens of thousands of white English girls. The police were for so long unwilling to go after the criminals lest they be accused of being “racists.’’

According to Chikli, figures like Marine Le-Pen in France proved their support for Israel by participating in pro-Israel events and promising not to enable legislation that could block Kosher slaughter.

The “necessary steps” that so-called right-wing parties in Europe are prepared to take involve calling a halt to Muslim immigration, deporting Muslims already in their countries if they have committed crimes, if their original claim of persecution turns out to have been false, or if changing circumstances make that claim invalid, as is the case, for example, with Syrians who claimed to be subject to persecution by the Assad regime. Since that regime no longer exists, there is no reason for anti-Assad Syrians to remain in the UK, or, indeed, in any other European country. Another way of discouraging Muslims from remaining in the countries of Western Europe is to place a limit on how long immigrants can receive the generous welfare benefits that Muslim economic migrants in particular have taken full advantage of — free or heavily subsidized housing, free medical care, free education, family allowances, and more. Still another measure worth considering is imposing work requirements — menial labor, mostly — as a condition of receiving benefits. The economic migrants in Western Europe are overwhelmingly Muslims, and they, infuriated by such a requirement imposed on them by the Infidels, instead of engaging in menial labor are likely to return to their countries of origin.

Chikli was asked whether he was concerned that the erosion of democracy in Europe, characterized among others by xenophobia and Islamophobia, would eventually lead to a threat against Jews. The minister responded that he did not believe there to be a problem of islamophobia since there was a “very good reason to worry” about the rise of Islamism in Europe.

Chikl is saying that “Islamophobia” — the irrational fear or hatred of Muslims — is not a problem, because there is nothing irrational about fearing or hating Islam. There is in his view “very good reason to worry” about what he called “Islamism.” “Islamism” is a term which, properly used, describes not something other than Islam, but rather, the most fanatical version of Islam.