September 8, 2026 — Berlin, Germany
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party has gone from a fringe Euroskeptic outfit to the country's most powerful opposition force in little more than a decade. It won 20.8% of the vote in the February 2025 federal election — 152 seats in the Bundestag, Germany’s Parliament — making it Germany's largest opposition party.
That rise hasn't gone unnoticed outside Germany, either. Before the 2025 election, Vice President JD Vance met with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel after criticizing Germany's political "firewall" against the party — a meeting the American Jewish Committee, among others, criticized. Elon Musk went further: he endorsed the AfD outright, hosted Weidel for a livestreamed conversation on X, and appeared by video at a campaign rally to call the party "the best hope for Germany."
The AfD's momentum was evident in Sunday's election in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party won 43.8% of the vote and 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament. It fell three seats short of a majority, meaning it cannot govern alone. The result was nevertheless the AfD's strongest showing in a German state election and puts renewed pressure on the country's longstanding political "firewall" against the party.
Here's what to know.
Key Takeaways
- The AfD is Germany’s most successful far-right party since World War II.
- Antisemitism is embedded in parts of the party’s rhetoric, ideology, and political culture.
- The AfD’s support for Israel is selective and does not necessarily reflect a rejection of antisemitism.
What is the AfD?
Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded in 2013 in response to the European Union's handling of the Eurozone financial crisis. Initially focused on opposing the euro and European integration, the party gradually adopted increasingly nationalist, anti-immigration, and anti-globalist positions.
The AfD first entered state parliaments in 2014 and the Bundestag in 2017. Since then, it has moved further to the right, becoming Germany's most successful far-right party since World War II.
The party campaigns against immigration and multiculturalism, calls for significantly tighter border controls, opposes many aspects of European integration, and has adopted an increasingly nationalist conception of German identity. Its supporters also include voters dissatisfied with mainstream parties over immigration, the economy, energy policy, and Germany's approach to Russia and Ukraine.
Why is the AfD Controversial?
The AfD has been widely criticized for xenophobic, ethnonationalist, antisemitic, and anti-democratic rhetoric. Some of its most prominent politicians have minimized Nazi crimes, promoted conspiracy theories, or used language associated with Germany's far-right extremist tradition.
One of the party's most prominent figures, Björn Höcke, called Berlin's Holocaust Memorial a “monument of shame” and demanded a “180-degree turn” in Germany's approach to its Nazi past. He was also convicted and fined for using the banned Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany.”
The AfD has also faced scrutiny from Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). In May 2025, the BfV designated the AfD a “confirmed right-wing extremist organization,” citing what it described as the party's ethnic conception of the German people and discriminatory treatment of immigrants and minorities. A German court temporarily suspended the designation in 2026 while the legal challenge continues. The party's classification remains an important and contested issue in Germany's debate over its constitutional order.
How is Antisemitism Embedded in AfD Ideology?
Antisemitism within the AfD is not always explicit. The party frequently relies on conspiracy theories and coded language that echo longstanding antisemitic ideas.
AfD figures have invoked terms such as “globalists” and “cosmopolitan elites” while portraying powerful, hidden forces as responsible for immigration, climate policies, social change, or Germany's supposed decline. George Soros has repeatedly been portrayed by some AfD representatives as a sinister figure manipulating governments and societies.
The “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory—promoted by prominent figures on the European far right and embraced by AfD politicians—also depicts demographic change as the result of a deliberate plan to replace native populations.
These narratives can reproduce traditional antisemitic ideas about Jews or shadowy Jewish-controlled elites secretly manipulating political and economic events, even when Jews are not explicitly mentioned.
What are “Remigration” and AfD's Vision of German Identity?
The AfD has increasingly defined German citizenship and belonging in ethnic and cultural terms. Central to this politics is the concept of “remigration,” a term used by AfD politicians and the broader far right to describe the removal of migrants from Germany.
The concept has generated particular concern because discussions surrounding it have extended beyond deporting people without legal status to questions about removing people who are legally resident or even German citizens but considered insufficiently German.
This ethnonationalist vision is closely connected to the party's broader opposition to multiculturalism and pluralistic democracy. It also helps explain why German authorities have focused on the AfD's treatment of immigrants and minorities when assessing the party's relationship with Germany's constitutional order.
What Does the AfD say About Germany's Nazi Past?
The AfD has repeatedly challenged Germany's postwar culture of Holocaust remembrance.
Alice Weidel and other AfD politicians have used the term Schuldkult, or “guilt cult,” to criticize what they see as excessive focus on Germany's Nazi crimes. Honorary AfD chairman Alexander Gauland once described the Nazi era as “bird’s droppings” in more than 1,000 years of German history. Höcke's description of the Holocaust Memorial as a “monument of shame” similarly attacked Germany's culture of remembrance.
The party has also argued that German history should be viewed more positively and that Germany should not focus disproportionately on its “low points.”
Scholars describe one aspect of this phenomenon as secondary antisemitism—hostility toward Jews that emerges from resentment over Holocaust remembrance, German responsibility, or perceived demands to confront Nazi crimes. In this framework, Jews can be portrayed implicitly as obstacles to a more positive German national identity.
Does the AfD Support Israel?
The AfD's relationship with Israel is complicated and has changed over time.
Some AfD politicians portray themselves as defenders of Israel and Jewish life in Germany, particularly when criticizing Islamist extremism or Muslim antisemitism. The party has also called for tougher action against antisemitism from the political left and raised concerns about Israel-related antisemitism.
But support for Israel is not consistent across the party. AfD leaders have criticized German military support for Israel and called for an end to weapons deliveries to countries involved in Middle East conflicts. The party has also expressed positions on Iran and the Middle East that have at times conflicted with Germany's longstanding commitment to Israel's security.
The party's selective support for Israel can also serve its broader political agenda, particularly its opposition to Muslim immigration and Islamist extremism. At the same time, antisemitic conspiracy narratives and hostility toward Israel have circulated within the party.
Consequently, describing the AfD simply as either “pro-Israel” or “anti-Israel” misses the complexity of its approach. Support for Israel among some AfD figures does not necessarily reflect a consistent rejection of antisemitism. At the same time, unlike some other right-wing populist parties, the AfD does not necessarily need support for Israel as a way to deflect from or legitimize its broader political agenda.
Has the AfD Targeted Jewish Individuals?
AfD politicians and affiliated activists have targeted prominent Jewish journalists, intellectuals, and other public figures who criticize the party.
These attacks have sometimes incorporated conspiracy theories, ridicule, and antisemitic imagery. They can also combine antisemitic themes with other forms of political hostility, including misogynistic or anti-communist rhetoric.
Such incidents illustrate why antisemitism in the AfD cannot be understood only by examining official party statements. It can also appear in the behavior of politicians, activists, and supporters associated with the broader movement.
What do AfD Voters Think About Antisemitism?
Multiple studies have found antisemitic attitudes are markedly more common among AfD supporters than supporters of Germany's other major parties — including greater acceptance of classic antisemitic stereotypes, greater Holocaust relativization, and greater resentment of remembrance culture. That doesn't mean every AfD voter holds these views. It does mean they resonate widely enough within the base that the party's rhetoric finds a receptive audience.
Why Does the AfD Matter?
The AfD has never entered government, held back by the "firewall" — the Brandmauer — that Germany's mainstream parties have maintained against it, on the grounds that its rhetoric and platform threaten German democracy. The AfD calls that exclusion undemocratic.
That firewall is about to face its hardest test. With the AfD polling around 40% ahead of the September 2026 Saxony-Anhalt election, it's within striking distance of governing a German state outright — something no far-right party has done since 1945. The vote is widely seen as a test case for whether the AfD can convert polling strength into actual governing power.
For Jewish communities, what makes this moment significant isn't the antisemitism alone — it's how thoroughly that antisemitism is woven into everything else the party stands for: the conspiracy theories, the ethnonationalism, the revisionist history, the hostility to pluralism. Understanding those threads together is what makes sense of both the AfD's appeal and what its growing power could mean for Jews, minorities, and German democracy more broadly.
