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Is it all in the family? A descriptive analysis of the transnational connections and network between the radical right in Israel and the PVV. Master Thesis Datum: 28-06-2019 Naam: E.C.Y. Hermans Student number: 4067126 MA Human Geography Radboud University Supervisor: B.A. Verbeek Word count: 22.491 1 Preface The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has fascinated me since a young aged. I was fortunate enough for this thesis, to combine my passion for the region, with my bachelor in European Studies to hopefully acquire my master’s in Human Geography, specialising in conflict territories and identities. I would like to use the preface to thank the Centre for the study of European Politics and Society of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, for my internship. Their knowhow and hospitality both have been incredibly valuable to this thesis and my life. Special mention goes out to Hila Zahavi, for her endless help. Additional special mention for Yonathan Herskowitz and his brother who were my 144. Additionally, I would like to thank my supervisor at the Radboud University, professor Bertjan Verbeek, for his seemingly endless patience and feedback. 2 Abstract The central research question guiding this thesis is: how can we describe the transnational connections of radical right between the PVV and Israeli political parties in the 2005 and 2018 period. This thesis adds to the overarching theme of understanding transnational cooperation by political parties. The time frame was selected because it covers the period from the establishment of the PVV until the interviews conducted for this study. The methodology of this thesis data uses three different methods of data collection which include a survey of newspaper articles in both Dutch and English dealing with Wilders and his ties to Israel, Semi-structured elite interviews with several actors as identified through social network analysis. In this thesis, network theory is used as a descriptive method to “connect the dots” between Wilders and his Israeli ties through a visualisation of the network using the social network visualisation program, Gephi. Based on the findings this thesis finds that in the case of Israel, the network is incentivized not by the Israeli actors involved, but by the Knesset. Additionally, the main motivation for initiating a transnational alliance with politicians and parties Europe was not based on party or personal ideological proximity. From the Israeli perspective, politicians stated that the main reason was primarily to create a network of pro-Israeli politicians. However, opinions differed as to how to deal with alleged anti-Semites and historic opposers of Israel. Nevertheless, all the interviewed politicians saw Wilders as a special case. Therefore, the main finding of this thesis is that the concept of party family has only limited explanatory power over this specific radical right transnational connections. The classifications of the parties and politicians involved does not demonstrate a direct link. 3 Table of Content Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Defining the Research Question .................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Scientific and Societal Relevance ................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................ 12 2.1 Important Definitions .................................................................................................................. 12 2.3. Why do Parties Cooperate Across Borders? .............................................................................. 20 2.3.1. Examples of transnational cooperation between political parties ........................................... 20 2.4. How does this relate to my own thesis ....................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 28 3.2. Survey of Newspaper Articles .................................................................................. 29 3.3. Social Network Analysis ........................................................................................... 31 3.4. Elite Interviewing ................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 4 Results .................................................................................................................. 37 4.1. Social network analysis: Who are the actors within this network?................................... 37 4.1.2. Actors in the network: From the PVV to Israeli Political parties ........................................... 41 4.1.3. The PVV ................................................................................................................................. 41 4.1.4. Geert Wilders ........................................................................................................ 42 4.1.5. Describing the radical right in Israel ......................................................................... 43 4.1.6. Israel .................................................................................................................... 44 4.1.7. Is the Israeli radical right different from the European radical right? .................. 44 4.1.8. The interviewees and their parties, as visualized in the SNA ................................................. 46 The Israeli politicians interviewed .................................................................................................... 48 4.1.9. Cooperation as seen in the SNA ............................................................................................. 49 4.2. Perceptions and motivations of the network by the interviewees ..................................... 51 4.3. Other benefits of being in a network ......................................................................................... 57 Chapter 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 60 5.1.1. The visualization of the network .............................................................................. 61 5.1.2 Perceptions and motivations .................................................................................................... 62 5.1.4. Research question ................................................................................................................... 63 5.2 Future recommendations ............................................................................................................. 64 5.3 Reflections ............................................................................................................... 66 References ............................................................................................................................ 67 4 Appendices ........................................................................................................................... 73 Appendix A: Interview protocol .............................................................................................. 73 Appendix B: Social Network Analysis in Gephi ........................................................................ 75 Appendix C: Newspaper Articles ............................................................................................. 82 List of figures and graphs Table 1.…………………………………………………………………………………….....40 Table 2.………………………………………………………………………...……………..41 Table 3.……………………………………………………………………………………….42 Figure 1…………………………………………………………………………………….…43 Figure 2……………………………………………………………………………………….49 5 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction Whoever has kept abreast with the news in European countries over the last two decades will know that politics has become increasingly polarized. In effect, this polarization has led to radicalization, which has been growing on both the right and the left of the political spectrum, though it has been far more noticeable on the right. The radicalization of right-wing politics has been strongly tied to those political parties that oppose globalization and immigration, often repudiate the concept of multiculturalism and, additionally, are sceptical of or oppose the European Union. The emergence of these parties continues to change the European and national political landscapes. The rise of radical right in politics is thus a contemporary societal issue. It is also a phenomenon that involves many dimensions. A common phenomenon in an increasingly globalised world is cooperation across national borders. In recent decades, we have seen a rise in transnational political cooperation. Such cooperation is in itself not a new phenomenon. Neither is transnational cooperation in Europe, or more specifically, that of the radical right in Europe. Like many other political doctrines, the radical right too has begun expanding beyond its own national borders (Akkerman, de Lange & Rooduijn, 2016; Caiani, 2018;

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