Manfred Gerstenfeld

Manfred Gerstenfeld (1937-2021) was an Austrian far-right crank and Islamophobe who lived in Israel. He was most widely known in Norway, including for his claim that Norway is the world's most anti-semitic country. Norway's largest newspaper, the conservative (centre-right) daily Aftenposten, has described him in an editorial as a "far-right extremist and fanatic." Gerstenfeld also contributed to the Islamophobic blog Document.no, known as the ideological inspiration of Anders Behring Breivik and described by the Financial Times as "a website rife with anti-Muslim and hard right rhetoric."

Odd Bjørn Fure, the director of the Norwegian Holocaust museum and the leading expert on antisemitism in Norway, has given Gerstenfeld this testimonial: "He [Gerstenfeld] is not worth arguing against. I prefer to deal with serious people. We do not take this person seriously. We couldn't care less about his opinions."

- Odd Bjørn Fure, director of the Norwegian Holocaust museum

Gerstenfeld formerly headed two extreme right-wing think tanks in Israel, the "Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs" and the "Institute for Global Jewish Affairs," which are known to primarily advocate the views of the far-right settler movement and to describe all criticism of Israel as "anti-semitism."

Opinions on Norway
Gerstenfeld claimed that "Norway is a nation of Jew-haters" and that "Norwegians are a barbaric and unintelligent people." He has also claimed that Norway's former Deputy Prime Minister Kristin Halvorsen, King Harald V, Crown Prince Haakon, former Foreign Minister and current Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre, and most of Norway's political elite are anti-semites.

Criticism of "left-wing Jews"
Gerstenfeld also lashed out at Jews critical of Israel, describing them as "self-hating Jews."