On Sept. 6, the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) won the State preliminary election in Saxony-Anhalt with 44% of the total vote. As a result, it won 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament. While it has not officially obtained a majority in the state yet, it is a sign that it may win a solid majority in Saxony-Anhalt and other states across Germany in the coming elections. 

In Germany, the AfD has been labeled as a far-right extremist political party, and it has not ruled significantly in Germany since the end of WWII. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV in German) has designated the group “a confirmed right-wing extremist organization,” although this designation was temporarily suspended by a German Court.

The group is well-known for its anti-immigration and anti-islamic rhetoric. It has also been composed of members like Bjorn Hocke, who has called the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, “a monument of shame, and called for a 180 in how they choose to remember their past. More infamously, an AfD politician was also fined for uttering a nazi slogan, “alles für Deutschland,” (all for Germany), and the co-founder, Alexander Gautland, said that Germans should be “proud of the achievements of German soldiers in two world wars.” These statements have been condemned as antisemitic by organizations like the ADL.

In terms of policies, the AfD has a mix of moderate reforms, and more radical positions, like deporting all foreigners, and those of non-German descent, who commit crimes or conflict with German culture (i.e. “not-assimilated”). 

In terms of their relations with Jews and Israel, it is more complicated. Many members publicly defend Israel, but many others oppose Israel and German funding of its weapons. Organizations like the American Jewish Committee have hypothesized that this support of Israel, only occurs due to the AfD’s mutual position against radical Islamism and its spread, as well as immigration of Muslims to Germany. AfD members have publicly ridiculed Jews, incorporated them into theories like “The Great Replacement Theory,” and incorporated “anti-communist” themes when referring to them. Some suggest that this mirrors the same attitude the Nazi Party had in the 1930s. A Holocaust survivor named Charlotte Knobloch criticized the AfD, and warned of their beliefs, and was consequently given death threats by agitators. Regardless, the public position of the AfD regarding Jews and Israel is more moderate, and usually that of defending Israel and Jewish culture within Germany. 

Many other controversial views exist in the party, including opposing financing weapons for Ukraine, and renewing Russian trade, despite the ongoing conflict. A more radical faction within the party also calls for the complete ethnonationalism of Germany. The chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, has publicly voiced concern regarding his party’s potential loss to the AfD, as well as many other Germans, for instance, every other party involved in the parliament, except for the BSW, has refused to work with the AfD. 

Despite all of these controversies, the leader of the AfD herself is a lesbian who worked for Goldman Sachs. Most AfD members claim that they support certain measures for the benefit of Germany, rather than for a racist, xenophobic ideology. However, many throughout Germany and the world continue to question if the AfD truly is just a ‘Germany-first’ party, or if it is embroiled within the radical far-right.