Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has said that the AfD is wrong in its positions on Ukraine, Israel, and China.

Speaking to Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner on the MDMEETS podcast, Thiel said that while there is a “reasonable debate” to be had about Western countries’ foreign policy toward these countries, the AfD is “wrong on all three”.

The AfD has previously been critical of the German government’s position toward Ukraine. The party has pushed for Ukraine not to be accepted into the EU and has said that if it is elected in Germany, it will withdraw military funding for Kyiv. On Israel, some party leaders have called for a German arms embargo with Tel Aviv, suggesting that the present policy has led to civilian deaths in Palestine. The AfD has also said that it would like “proactive participation” in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and has called for a reset in economic ties with the superpower.

Thiel has previously been critical of America’s foreign policy toward Ukraine, arguing that funding for Kyiv had been an “over-commitment”, while acknowledging that he did not know how to solve the conflict. He has also been supportive of Israel during the war in Gaza, stating that he “defers” to Tel Aviv on foreign policy decisions and that the IDF’s actions had been “broadly right”.

These comments on Döpfner’s podcast come as the AfD has made breakthroughs in recent German elections. Last week, the AfD became the largest party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the state elections, achieving 38% of the vote. Earlier in September, the party achieved 44% of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt state election. The AfD also currently leads national polling at 28%, with the CDU, Germany’s centre-right governing party, in second place at 20%.

After last week’s results, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the AfD’s breakthrough as a “disaster”, but ruled out stepping down from his position. He suggested that his government would continue with federal reforms, but would find it “more difficult” to pursue this agenda.

Thiel has previously been critical of the CDU. In 2021, he suggested that it had become a “zombie party” running on ideas from the 20th century. He also singled out then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying that her premiership had been like an “eternal Groundhog Day” and that the system her party had built had “run its course”.

Last year, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel discussed her party’s desire to work with the leaders of large companies, including Thiel. She said that she could imagine working with Thiel or SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a future AfD government.

Thiel also stated in his podcast appearance with Döpfner that the success of the AfD represented a “failure of the centrist parties” in Germany to set out an economic future for the country. He added that the party “didn’t have great solutions” to the country’s economic problems, and that it did not know “how to balance the budget”.