The same type of Jews in America who are left-wing (Ashkenazim of Eastern European origins) are left wing in Europe, Australia and Israel. The same type of Jews in America who are centrist to right wing (Sephardim, Mizrahim, and Ashkenazim from Western Europe) have similar political leanings in Europe, Australia and Israel.
BERLIN—Emanuel Bernhard Krauskopf’s trips to his synagogue in the German capital have become an awkward affair.
The reason: Mr. Krauskopf and about 30 others recently founded a Jewish chapter of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, an anti-immigrant party that is the largest opposition group in parliament—one whose members include people accused of anti-Semitism, right-wing extremists and others on the political fringe.
“I’m 69 and tired of being polite,” said Mr. Krauskopf, a retired engineer and entrepreneur. “I support a party that calls a spade a spade and really stands up for the Jews.”
Across Europe, anti-immigration parties with ties to far-right movements have stepped up efforts to recruit supporters in the continent’s small Jewish community, often drawing on perceptions in that community about anti-Semitism among Muslims.
Such concerns are widespread. A recent European Union survey found that 41% of Jews in Germany who had experienced anti-Semitic harassment blamed Muslim extremists, while 20% saw the perpetrators as having right-wing political views and 16% saw them as having left-wing views.
