Muslim Brotherhood-linked networks fuel antisemitism, anti-Israel influence across Europe – report

Groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood are spreading antisemitism and anti-Israel propaganda across Europe, according to a new report released by the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which has close ties with the designated terrorist organization Hamas, reportedly seeks to delegitimize Israel in Europe and the wider Western world.

The report, published on Tuesday, focuses on Muslim Brotherhood-linked radical Islamist groups based in Germany, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Ireland. The report notes that these groups maintain direct or indirect ties with Hamas and other Iranian terror proxies and are financed by the Qatari regime.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli called on European countries to address this complex security threat to the continent’s long-term stability, warning, “Those who close their eyes today will pay tomorrow in the security of their citizens and in Jewish lives.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood is not a civil society movement. It is a mechanism for infiltrating extremism and terror into the heart of Europe. Behind a facade of ‘moderation’ lies a network with ties to Hamas and foreign funding that undermines democracies from within. Europe should wake up,” Chikli said.

Avi Cohen-Scali, director of Israel's Diaspora Affairs Ministry, echoed similar sentiments, stressing that the organizations operate behind a seemingly “moderate” façade.

“Despite its outwardly ‘moderate’ approach, the organization consistently rejects the principles of liberal democracy and Western values, which do not align with its radical ideological goals, including, at times, the Islamization of Europe,” he warned.

One of the European-based groups examined in the report is the UK-based charity Interpal, which has long been controversial due to alleged ties to Hamas. Led by Ibrahim Hewitt, a British convert to Islam who advocates a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law, Interpal has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The report also notes that Youssef Mustafa, a key figure in the organization, maintains close connections with the Muslim Brotherhood and global Hamas networks.

The new report highlights the "Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO)" as another problematic organization with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The report assessed that it has received more than one million euros ($US1.1 million) annually from Qatar.

Qatar also maintains close ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which openly calls for Israel's destruction and has backed Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis against the Jewish state.

In October 2024, a European report noted that the Iranian regime employs criminal networks throughout Europe to target Jews and Israelis across the continent. For instance, Tehran reportedly maintains ties with Foxtrot, a Sweden-based criminal network that was led by Rawa Majid, an Iranian-born Kurd known as the “Kurdish Fox.”