1y ago

The War Is Shifting Europe’s Politics Away From Israel

www.nytimes.com

In Europe, long a vital source of support for Israel, the political center of gravity is moving away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Spain, Ireland and Norway on Wednesday recognized Palestinian statehood, despite vehement Israeli and American opposition. And most European governments offered unequivocal support to the International Criminal Court this week, after it requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas.

Israel still has staunch allies within the European Union, especially Hungary and the Czech Republic, and key players like Germany, despite growing discomfort with Israel’s conduct, have not shown any inclination to alter their stance. The growing fissures within Europe mean that the consensus-driven European Union will not change its positions any time soon.

But European countries face rising international and domestic pressure to take a firmer stand against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian territories, and particularly the devastating war in Gaza.

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8 comments

And once again, we see the real mechanism by which terrorism "wins". Israel has hurt itself in its confusion.
- You could also argue that Israel itself is an example of terrorisms success, as Jewish militias terrorised and ethnically cleansed the land of most Arabs/Palestianians, starting at the creation of Israel.
  During the Nakba in 1948, approximately half of Palestine's predominantly Arab population, or around 750,000 people, were expelled from their homes or made to flee, at first by Zionist paramilitaries through various violent means, and after the establishment of the State of Israel, by the Israel Defense Forces. This occurred in the wake of dozens of massacres targeting Palestinian Arabs and the depopulation of 500 Arab-majority towns and villages, with many of these being either completely destroyed or repopulated by Jews and given new Hebrew names. By the end of the war, 78% of the total land area of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by Israel and at least 15,000 Palestinian Arabs had been killed.
  
  This might be true for Netanjahu and some right-wing groups, but not for the population or country in general. There are lots of people in Israel, including lots of Jews, who oppose any violence against other groups, especially inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank.
- I dunno that Bibi was confused. He had an opportunity, he needed something to change politics, and now we're here. He's not omnipotent within Israel, but clearly enough Israelis are okay with this.
- This conflict has been manufactured over a period of decades. Everyone but Palestine gets something out of it.
- It's kind of funny given the fact that Israel was founded through terrorism and terrorist militias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_(militant_group). You'd think they would've mastered terrorism already.
Primarily, the behavior of Israel is pushing away the interest in supporting Israel.

8 comments