In a historic upset that has reshaped German political landscape and sent alarm across European capitals, Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — an openly pro-Israel faction — secured a landslide victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, bringing the party closer than ever to leading a German regional government for the first time since the collapse of the Nazi regime.
Initial exit polls conducted by public broadcaster ARD project the AfD will take 44.5% of the popular vote, a result that more than doubles the party’s vote share from the region’s 2021 election. Long-dominant conservative Christian Democratic Union, led by federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, trailed by a staggering 26 percentage points, finishing a distant second with just 18.5% of the vote. Turnout for the election reached approximately 76%, a marked increase from the average turnout for German regional contests, according to data from Reuters.
Speaking to Reuters shortly after results began to roll in, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, celebrated the milestone: “We have made history in this country.” While the outcome is unprecedented, questions remain unresolved about whether the party will be able to secure the necessary alliances or parliamentary seats to form a functional regional administration. No other major mainstream German party has announced willingness to enter a governing coalition with the AfD to date.
The shocking election result has already triggered urgent concern across the European Union, particularly in France. Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of France’s most prominent opposition leaders, took to the social platform X to warn that “The far right is back in Germany.” Labeling the electoral outcome a “disaster”, Melenchon added that a strengthened far-right presence in German politics undermines plans for European military integration, stating: “under these conditions, the German military project to create Europe’s first conventional army is unacceptable for France.”
A notable undercurrent of the AfD’s rise has been its open embrace by senior members of Israel’s current government, despite the party’s widely accepted classification as a far-right movement. As early as February 2025, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli publicly praised the party for its stances targeting groups that advocate for Palestinian rights. Chikli noted that the AfD had taken a leading role in challenging German government backing for organizations critical of Israeli policy, an outcome he described as “surprising.”
In his social media post at the time, Chikli highlighted the AfD’s past policy actions to align with Israeli government priorities: “It was also the AfD that initiated a bill in April 2019 calling for a ban on the antisemitic BDS movement… In June 2019, the AfD also proposed a complete ban on Hezbollah’s activities in Germany.”
AfD leadership has actively cultivated its image as an unwavering ally of Israel, even as multiple senior party figures have been repeatedly caught making antisemitic statements and spreading Holocaust revisionist rhetoric. During a high-profile conversation with Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk in January 2025, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel went so far as to frame her party as “the only protector of the Jewish people” in Germany. Weidel has explicitly tied the AfD’s vocal support for Israel to the party’s core anti-immigration and anti-Islam platforms, casting the Israeli state as a natural partner in what the AfD frames as a broader global confrontation with Islam and Muslim communities.