A growing divide is emerging between Israel's relations with European governments and its developing partnerships with several Arab and Muslim-majority countries.
While European states are considering or implementing increasingly restrictive measures against Israel, countries such as Morocco and the United Arab Emirates are pursuing closer diplomatic and strategic cooperation with the Jewish state.
For commentator Jay Shapiro, the contrast is one of the most striking developments in Israel's international relations. In his latest podcast, Shapiro examined this changing diplomatic landscape against the backdrop of mounting antisemitic violence across the Jewish diaspora and a renewed controversy surrounding the Church of England's treatment of Israel and Zionism.
"The countries in Europe are getting less friendly with Israel. The countries in the Middle East are getting more friendly with Israel," Shapiro observed.
His assessment comes amid troubling figures concerning antisemitism worldwide. According to a report by the J7 Large Communities Task Force Against Antisemitism, cited by Shapiro, 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic violence in the Jewish diaspora since the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires.
The report documented 20 deaths in targeted antisemitic attacks during 2025, including the massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney during Hanukkah, the attack at Manchester's Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, and the killing of two people at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
The J7, which brings together major Jewish organizations from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, recorded more than 23,000 antisemitic incidents in 2025. Although the total was below the record set in 2024, the report found that violent incidents remained at elevated levels.
Across 17 countries, more than 91,000 incidents were recorded between 2021 and 2025.
Germany continued to register particularly high rates of antisemitism relative to its Jewish population, approaching 70 incidents per 1,000 Jewish residents. Britain recorded approximately 3,700 incidents, while France registered nearly 1,400.
The report also highlighted the growing role of digital platforms in spreading antisemitic content. In Argentina, 66 percent of recorded incidents originated online, while in France nearly 60 percent of hateful content appeared on social media platforms.
Educational institutions were another major area of concern. Jewish students across the seven countries reported self-censorship, exclusion, hostile classroom environments and inadequate responses from university administrations.
According to Shapiro, these findings demonstrate that antisemitism is no longer restricted to extremist political or social circles.
"The normalization of anti-Semitism is not a metaphor, it is a measurable and documented phenomenon," he said, describing the report's findings and arguing that anti-Zionism frequently serves as a vehicle for antisemitic hostility.
The J7 called for stronger legislation, increased security funding and more effective enforcement of national regulations by social media companies. Its message, as presented by Shapiro, was that symbolic condemnations are insufficient without practical measures to protect Jewish communities.
For Shapiro, the report's findings provide an important context for understanding the increasingly strained relationship between Israel and several European countries.
He pointed particularly to the Netherlands, where, according to his account, restrictions introduced on September 22 prohibit goods originating from Israeli communities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, including products carried in personal luggage.
Shapiro said intentional violations could carry prison sentences of up to six years, while unintentional violations could result in penalties of up to one year. He also described reports from Israeli travelers who said their luggage had been searched by Dutch customs officers, although Dutch authorities maintained that inspections were random rather than systematic.
Israel, he said, responded by revoking the diplomatic status of Dutch officials working in Ramallah.
The measures illustrate the deterioration in relations between Israel and a country once regarded as one of its closest European partners.
Shapiro also cited reports of passengers arriving from Tel Aviv at a London airport being separated from other travelers for luggage inspections. Britain's Home Office denied allegations of racial profiling, maintaining that searches were intelligence-led.
He noted that proposed British restrictions on settlement products had not entered into force.
Political tensions have also become increasingly visible in public discourse. Shapiro referred to statements at Britain's Labour Party conference condemning Palestinian suffering and to Ireland, where hostility toward Israel has extended into sporting events.
He quoted an Irish soccer coach as saying ahead of a disputed match against Israel: "We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide, we are playing against Israel."
Shapiro presented these developments as evidence of growing political pressure within Europe for punitive measures against Israel.
Yet he contrasted this European trajectory with developments elsewhere.
Morocco, he said, is preparing to upgrade its diplomatic relations with Israel to full embassies, expand direct flights and arrange reciprocal high-level visits. These efforts are taking place despite domestic protests against normalization.
He also described a recent visit by Israel's prime minister to the United Arab Emirates, where discussions with the country's leadership focused on shared regional concerns.
According to Shapiro, cooperation between Israel and these Muslim-majority countries is driven by overlapping strategic interests, including concerns about Iran, regional security, Islamist movements, technological development and trade.
He acknowledged that disagreements remain and that normalization continues to face opposition among sections of the public in countries such as Morocco.
Nevertheless, he argued that the direction of relations is significant.
"I think there is something strange about Israel increasingly able to discuss its future with Arab and Muslim states, while its citizens face growing suspicion and restriction in Europe," he said.
Shapiro also questioned the economic consequences of European restrictions on goods produced in Israeli communities in the West Bank. He argued that such measures could harm Palestinian workers employed by Israeli businesses, potentially threatening livelihoods that depend on those industries.
His criticism of European attitudes toward Israel extended beyond government policy to religious institutions, particularly the Church of England.
Turning to what he described as an issue receiving relatively little public attention, Shapiro sharply criticized the Church of England's General Synod for giving prominence to a document titled A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide.
According to his account, the document accuses Israel of genocide, presents Zionism as a colonial and exclusionary ideology, and calls on churches to reconsider their engagement with Zionist voices.
Shapiro argued that such language should be examined in the context of the history of Christian antisemitism.
He recalled the medieval blood libels that originated in England, in which Jews were falsely accused of murdering Christian children for ritual purposes. Those accusations spread across Europe, contributing to persecution, violence and the dispossession of Jewish communities.
In 1290, England expelled its Jewish population.
"History teaches that lies about Jews kill," Shapiro said.
He drew a direct parallel between historical accusations against Jews and contemporary allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. This comparison was Shapiro's own interpretation of the Church-related controversy, rather than an established equivalence.
"The medieval blood libel claimed Jews murdered Christian children for their blood. And this modern blood libel claims Jewish state commits genocide," he argued.
Shapiro acknowledged the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and stressed that civilian deaths deserve compassion.
"The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is real, it is real, and deserves profound compassion. Every civilian death is really a tragedy, but tragedy is not genocide," he said.
He maintained that criticism of Israeli government policies and military decisions is legitimate, but rejected the use of the term genocide to characterize Israel's war against Hamas.
"You can criticize Israeli policies, their military decisions, or you can criticize the Israeli government. Democracies invite criticism," he said.
His objection extended to the portrayal of Zionism as settler colonialism. Shapiro argued that Jewish national identity, religious traditions, language and civilization are historically rooted in the land of Israel, and that the restoration of Jewish sovereignty should not be understood through the framework of foreign colonial settlement.
He described the characterization of Zionism as colonialism as a distortion of Jewish history.
The commentator also argued that rhetoric portraying Israel as uniquely illegitimate risks reinforcing antisemitic hostility beyond the Middle East.
He connected the controversy surrounding the Church of England with the J7 report's findings about Jewish communities facing threats, harassment and growing insecurity in Europe and other Western countries.
In his view, religious institutions have a particular responsibility to consider the historical consequences of language directed against Jews.
Shapiro invoked the Dreyfus affair in France, when a Jewish army officer was falsely convicted of treason amid widespread antisemitic agitation. He recalled the role played by religious voices in promoting anti-Jewish hostility and the eventual reckoning with that injustice.
He questioned whether the Church of England had adequately absorbed the lessons of earlier periods of Christian anti-Judaism.
"Condemning anti-Semitism while promoting rhetoric that many Jews experience as the contemporary expression of anti-Semitism is not enough," he said.
He also criticized what he regarded as a contradiction between institutional declarations opposing antisemitism and the adoption of language that, in his assessment, contributes to hostility toward the Jewish state.
"Pious declarations against anti-Semitism ring hollow if they're accompanied by language that fuels the very hatred they claim to oppose by denouncing Israel," he argued.
At the same time, Shapiro distinguished his criticism of church institutions from his appreciation of Christian leaders who have publicly supported Jewish communities.
He praised those who have defended Jews against antisemitism despite criticism from colleagues, activists and social media users.
"For their friendship, their courage, and moral integrity, the Jewish people owes them deep gratitude, no two ways about it," he said.
His remarks returned to the historical relationship between religious rhetoric and anti-Jewish persecution, a connection he considers particularly relevant amid the contemporary rise in antisemitic incidents.
"Standing against hatred has never been easy," Shapiro said. "It was not easy in medieval England. It was not easy during the Dreyfus era in France. It's not easy today."
He ended his criticism of the Church of England with a question directed at its current leadership:
"Has the Church of England, by attacking Israel now, learned anything from history?"
Editorial verification note - not part of the article: This draft is based exclusively on the supplied transcript. Before publication, several details require fact-checking, including the reported 2025 death toll and attack descriptions, the Dutch import restrictions and penalties, the British and Irish quotations and official titles, the reported diplomatic developments involving Morocco and the UAE, and the Church of England document's status and wording. Claims and interpretations by Shapiro have been attributed to him rather than independently established.