“Those who call for empathy without context do not support peace, but prolong war,” read an open letter signed by thirteen Czech senators, mostly members of the ruling coalition’s parties, in late August. The letter also pointed to the “important strategic alliance” between the Czech Republic and Israel, advocated for maintaining a consistent — i.e., strictly pro-Israel — line on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and incorrectly stated that Hamas held the key to ending the violence this summer.

The senators’ appeal was a response to the planned meeting between President Petr Pavel — a nonpartisan figure, separate from the government — and Prime Minister Petr Fiala regarding the Czech position on the situation in Gaza. The president initiated the debate on this topic, sending the Czech government a well-justified rebuke for its unconditional support for Israel’s actions. Indeed, Czech officials’ unqualified backing of the Israeli authorities is exceptional even among Western countries.

Shortly after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Prime Minister Fiala described the Czech Republic as “Israel’s voice in Europe.” Since then, it has systematically opposed United Nations and European Union resolutions that criticize or seek to sanction Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and elsewhere in the Middle East. When the International Criminal Court proposed and subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024, the Czech prime minister described it as “appalling and unacceptable,” in contrast to how he had celebrated a similar arrest warrant for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin a year earlier. Czech arms exports to Israel doubled between 2022 and 2024.