“Under Netanyahu’s watch, Israel has amassed a conspicuous crop of illiberal allies. Some, like Salvini and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, represent political movements with histories of neofascism and anti-Semitism. Others, like Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, espouse the agenda and rhetoric of would-be strongmen, promising the destruction of their enemies while scoffing at pearl-clutching human rights activists. (Both, for what it’s worth, seem intent on moving their nations’ embassies in Israel to Jerusalem.)”
“They all seem united in their apparent support for Netanyahu’s government, one that is constantly battling against international isolation in the face of its ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories.”
“At home, Orban has been criticized for hailing Nazi collaborators and embracing anti-Semitic dog whistles in his campaigning; Salvini is coy about Italy’s fascist past and in his tweets recently nodded to the late dictator Benito Mussolini — who presided over the decimation of Italy’s Jewish population. Both grandstand over the threat of immigration, particularly the entry of Muslims, whom they openly view as a cultural menace.”
““For [Netanyahu], as well as his backers in Washington, criticism of Israel is the only form of anti-Semitism that matters,” noted Slate’s Joshua Keating.”
Read more: Israel strengthens its ties with the West’s far right (archived)
2021-week12
