ABSTRACT
In February 2019, during a visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a clear message from Jerusalem to Brussels by declaring that a strong bond exists between Israel and Orban’s Hungary, one based on the ‘many things’ that these two countries ‘have shared in the past’ as well as in the present. Populism is a contested concept. It has been understood as an ideology, a discourse, a disease of liberal democracy, a mobilisation strategy or a political style. Populism is prevalent in Israeli politics because conflicts concerning the inclusion or exclusion of subordinate social groups have marked Israeli society since its inception. In line with the morphing of its domestic identity, Israel has become a soft eurosceptic country, developing strong political alliances and institutional connections with populist and eurosceptical political actors that do not support the norms informing European Union policies.
