The European right and Israel... The story of "forbidden love" targeting Arabs and Muslims

“There are no permanent friends and permanent enemies, but only permanent interests.” Perhaps these words of the former British Prime Minister “Winston Churchill” are among the truest what was said in describing political relations between states. Relationships change with the change of interests. The tension with the occurrence of conflict of interests, and the international arena is replete with hundreds of examples of this. In light of this, there remain a small number of countries that try - at least on the surface - to preserve a minimum level of their character and values. On the other hand, there are other countries that take pragmatism as their only policy and most important principle, as interests dominate over any other data, And at the head of these second countries comes the Israeli occupation state.

Tel Aviv takes its interests as a supreme goal for all its moves, even if that means selling a spyware program like Pegasus to some countries to spy on its allies, and reselling it to other countries to spy on those same client countries, and here is the news about the targeting of the Israeli-made program to employees in The US State Department itself.

(1) This pragmatism appears in almost all of Israel’s actions, and this is evidenced by its acceptance of placing its hand in the hands of a number of European right-wing movements, only in order to ensure their presence in Europe, even if this means allying with currents that embrace the Nazi idea that was It has taken the Jews, until recently, as its first enemy, just because that enemy also has a common enemy with Tel Aviv, this common enemy are Muslims, whether they are in Palestine or in Europe or in other parts of the world.

friendly Nazi

"We hope that the right will win in Europe."

(Eleazar Cohen, former MK for the far-right Yisrael Beitenu party)

In Germany, the country of the Third Reich, and the ancient Nazi project led by Adolf Hitler, who considered the Jews his first enemy, the right-wing Alternative for Germany party did not find a better one than Yair Netanyahu, son of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to put his picture on one of the private propaganda leaflets. by the party.

More important than the picture are the words written next to it, which were issued earlier by Netanyahu's son, as he says: "The Schengen area is among the dead. Soon your organization (the European Union) will also die, and Europe will return free, democratic and Christian."

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The alliance between Zionism and movements that are theoretically 'anti-Semitic' is not born today, but dates back to the 19th century when the Jewish national movement began to move towards a national home for the Jews (Reuters)

This enthusiasm shown by Netanyahu’s son for a Christian project in Europe is outweighed in its strangeness by the enthusiasm of the extreme right, which includes, as of this writing, a number of “neo-Nazi” leaders, to approach Israel and consider it a main supporter of the populist extreme right project in Europe, which wants to destroy the Union Europe and reshaping the features of the continent again on the basis of hostility to the Arab and Islamic peoples and the immigrant minorities that settled in the old continent decades ago.

The European extreme right did not hesitate to put its hand in the position of Zionism in order to be able to improve its image and present itself in a different way, relying on this new appearance to gain a greater number of votes while maintaining a minimum level of hatred of Jews, which is one of its traditional ideological lines. But the alliance between Zionism and movements that are theoretically “anti-Semitic” is not of today, but dates back to the 19th century, when the Jewish national movement began to move in order to find a national home for the Jews, and they hated them only to work hard to help them achieve their quest so that they could Europe to push them outside its borders, and perhaps this reason is considered one of the most important reasons that made the British government enthusiastic about the project of establishing a Jewish state on the land of Palestine, which was living under British occupation. (3)

This cooperation between the popular and nationalist European right-wing currents and Israel as a state that embodies the Zionist project will reappear with force in recent years, when the extreme right-wing currents began to gain ground inside Europe, to see Israel in this as a great opportunity to form alliances with an old enemy, but an enemy that unites with a state Occupation has different and varied interests.

The new page of that "strange" alliance began on December 5, 2010, when Tel Aviv received a high-ranking European delegation that included political leaders led by the Dutch Geert (Gert) Wilders, the Belgian Philippe Dauter, and the Austrian Heinz-Christian Strache.

Geert Wilders during his visit to the occupied territories (Reuters)

All of these figures are famous for their fascist tendencies, which aspire to restore the glories of the "Third Reich." Avigdor Lieberman, the former Israeli foreign minister, received the Dutch right-wing politician Wilders, known for his great hostility to Islam, who spared no effort in thanking Israel for hosting him. He considered it the fortress of freedom, symbolizing living in peace and dignity and confronting the ideology that denies Israel. (4)

Very quickly, the relationship between Israel under Netanyahu's rule and these extreme right-wing movements and parties with fascist tendencies developed, turning into a love relationship that is only disturbed by the great difficulty that new friends find in curbing their hostility to the Jews. For his part, Netanyahu was keen to turn a blind eye to these "right-wing abuses" so as not to falter his interests, which he believed were more important than the details of the neo-Nazis' hostility to the Jews. On July 18, 2017, Netanyahu visited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the man who had long publicly praised Mikos Horthy, the Hungarian regent for handing over 430,000 Jews to Nazi General Adolf Eichmann, who was kidnapped by Mossad from Argentina and taken to the occupied Palestinian territories for execution. But the Israelis apparently decided to overlook Orban's stances, especially after he visited the occupied territories in July 2018, and stressed that he would not tolerate anti-Semitism again. (5)

In addition to Hungary, Netanyahu and his government made great efforts to rapprochement with the leaders of the right in Poland and then Lithuania, where some sources say that between 95-97% of the Jewish community was liquidated, most of them were killed by collaborators with the Nazis even before the arrival of German forces to arrest them, and these facts are It is unlikely that she was absent from the mind of the former Israeli prime minister, since his family came to Palestine as an immigrant from Lithuania. In Germany itself, Israel has built strong relations with the right-wing "Alternative for Germany" movement, which, despite its president's assertion of support for Israel in its battle against the "Islamists", members of the movement almost destroy the friendly relationship with Tel Aviv every time. Alexander Gauland, one of the movement's spokesmen, went out to call on Germans to be proud of their soldiers' fighting during World War II, calling on his country to reconsider its history, responsibility for the Holocaust, and its relations with Israel.These statements of apparent aggressiveness did not prevent Rafi Eitan, the former head of the Mossad, from praising the Alternative for Germany movement, calling on it to work hard for Germany and Europe. (6) (7)

Netanyahu shakes hands with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz during his visits to the occupied territories 2018 (Reuters)

In the same context, and in June 2018, Israel invited Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to visit the occupied territories, despite his leadership of a coalition that includes neo-Nazis. responsible for his history, but this statement provoked a Jewish woman of Austrian origin who was present, as she commented on his words by saying that some members of his party still need someone to explain to them what the Holocaust is, a response that caused a small crisis that the Israelis contained by an apology from Kurz, whom Netanyahu considered A true friend of Israel and the Jewish people.

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But despite these serious attempts to get closer to fascist currents in Europe, Israel has reservations about establishing relations with the head of European fascism at the present time, represented by the French far-right movement led by the National Rally party headed by Marine Le Pen, and it seems that the cause of the dispute is due to the adherence of John Marie Le Pen The founder of the party, with statements in which he said that the gas chambers were nothing but a detail in World War II, and despite his expulsion by his daughter and the latter’s attempt to build bridges of communication with Tel Aviv by sending Nicholas Bay, one of the party’s leaders, to the occupied territories, the Israeli government rejected These initiatives are entirely due to the "ideology and history of the party".

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Israel... the inspiring extremist model

"I am looking for ways to reduce the Islamic influence in the world, it is the real Nazism in this world and I am the partner of everyone who believes that this war exists."

(Ayoub Kara, parliamentarian in the Israeli Likud party)

Well, it can be said that there is an undeclared deal on which the relationship between Israel and popular currents in Europe was based: Fascists and Nazis can commend the killing of Jews whenever and however they want, but only on the condition that Israel’s interests within the European Union are defended, which is consistent with a previous statement by Netanyahu that he said that It aims to reach balances in the relationship between his country and the European Union in light of the isolation it suffers from due to Europe's failure to adopt all its orientations on a number of issues. (10)

Israel is therefore waiting for its support in the European Union from its new allies, and for its part, right-wing movements see in Israel an astonishing model of the state they dream of, an ethno-nationalist state that firmly controls its borders and successfully entrenches itself in a region hostile to it, and in addition, the fascists show a kind of sympathy With Tel Aviv, the occupying country shares with Europe the Christian-Jewish heritage, a heritage that considers the right to be the spearhead in the cultural and religious war with the Islamic East, so preserving it is one of the most important weapons in this battle.

Israel has everything a nationalist fascist can admire, a state that includes a people of one religion that faces with marked violence any popular, political or military Palestinian rebellion. Its society is riddled with racism between Ashkenazim and Sephardi, but this does not matter to supporters of Israel as much as the external image of the state, which includes one people who share "ethnic and religion."

In addition to the above, Israel has a long record of anti-Islam, which appeals to the extreme right-wing, for example, Geert Wilders, a deputy from the Dutch "For Freedom" party known for its fierce hostility to Islam, described Israel as "the canary in the middle of a coal field." And the “first line of defense for the West against Islam,” which is explained by the American sociologist Rogers Brubecker by saying that Jews are the ideal victims of the Islamic threat, as supporting Israel becomes an integral part of fighting Islam’s presence on the international scene. (11)

As a result of all this, the European fascists, after the refugee crises, invoked an Israeli discourse par excellence, calling for confronting the Islamic danger and protecting Christians and Jews in Europe from that danger alike. Even Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Gathering known for adopting a number of its leaders and members of the Nazi thesis, was In 2014, she called on the Jewish community in France to vote for her party because it is the only one capable of confronting that common enemy of Christians and Jews alike. As for the German MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Beatrix von Storch, she went even further, when she considered that “anti-Semitism” is increasing in Germany due to immigrants who come to Europe with an anti-Jewish orientation, although the International Research Center On extremism, he denied this relationship and stressed that he had not recorded any indication of the spread of anti-Semitism among Muslim minorities. (12)

In addition to all of this, there is another reason that pushes the European right to ally with Zionism, which is the desire to benefit from the military and technological arsenal of the occupying power that has been proven effective on the ground.

Right-wingers dream of seeing the bodies of refugees piled up after being shot. This "fascist utopia" is actually taking place in Israel, which has been dealing with the policy of "open bullets" towards the Palestinians since 1948 until now, which prompted a person like Marcel Yaron Gullhammer, a German who converted to Judaism, to He described his service in the Israeli occupation army as one of the most beautiful experiences of his life, after he laid down his arms and returned to his country to fight in the ranks of the "Alternative for Germany" party, calling for the expulsion of Muslims from the country so that Germany would not become surrounded by its enemies as is happening in Israel, as he described it.

(13)

Try to dance all the ropes

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right) and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

(Reuters)

However, this scramble led by Netanyahu towards the European right created a kind of distress among the classic European currents, which never skimped on support for Israel. Therefore, the new Israeli government, led by Naftali Bennett, is trying to revive these relations with the European Union and its traditional forces, which Netanyahu has long considered obstructing Tel Aviv. Aviv.

Last July, Yair Lapid, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Brussels at the invitation of Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union, where he attended a meeting of the European Foreign Affairs Council.

This visit, which is the first of its kind since 2008, comes as a serious attempt by the Israeli government and the European Union to mend the rift that occurred in their relations.

During the visit, the Israeli foreign minister was keen to stress that the presence of a strong European Union is in Israel's interest, and he pledged that Tel Aviv will seek to strengthen relations with European leaders who believe in the European Union, and he also showed greater sternness in confronting the anti-Jewish tendencies by the extremist right-wing currents. It also appeared in a verbal altercation between him and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawski regarding a law that prevents Jews from reclaiming property that belonged to their ancestors before the Holocaust. (15)

However, there is no indication that the Bennett government is willing to sacrifice the relationships that Netanyahu has forged with the rising right-wing forces in Europe, and all that it will do is adopt a more balanced approach. Tel Aviv, which was demonstrated by the refusal of a number of partner countries of Israel to adopt its decision to classify 6 Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist organizations, despite Tel Aviv's relentless efforts to prevent the European Union from funding these organizations.In the Netherlands, which is a traditional ally of Israel, the authorities confirmed that the Israeli document accusing these organizations of terrorism did not provide any concrete evidence. Similarly, Italy, Britain and Denmark confirmed that they would not stop their financial support for these accused organizations, while France stressed the importance of civil society associations in the democratic scene. To states, stressing that the role of states should be to create and support these organizations and help them work. (16)

This European position, which does not bring the winds of Tel Aviv's ships, confirms the difficulty of the task that awaits the current Israeli government, as it seems confused between trying to rapprochement with Brussels and strengthening relations with the fascists who, despite their apparent hostility to the Jews, are still able to implement the required Among them, especially when it comes to targeting Arab and Islamic communities in Europe or defending Israel's right to abuse the Palestinians, especially since their shares in the old continent are still rising.

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