The Prime Minister should be speaking with all heads of state, and the leaders of all major parties in Europe…
When it comes to Jew-hatred, the Left cannot point any fingers, but yet they do. It’s called projection, they call out others for things that they’re doing themselves and for some time they’ve been getting away with it, but not any longer. In the Counter-jihad/defenders of classical liberalism movement, understanding antisemitism to be the insanity that it is was a prerequisite for being taken seriously, that you can be trusted. Many of whom the radical Left disses as ”fascists” are people who hold true, enlightenment values, it’s they who level the charges that are suspect, not us.
Ironically (or perhaps hypocritically) many of these same critics urged Israeli prime ministers to speak to Yasser Arafat and other terrorist leaders who have advocated and practiced the murder of Jews.
I’ve used the exact same argument for years concerning multiple Swedish governments consistently blocking any joint cooperation/talks with the Swedish Democrats. These same government officials openly slap Palestinian leaders on the backs, swap jokes and demand Israel to sit down with Hamas.
Netanyahu Should Talk to European Nationalists
- The nationalist leaders of central and eastern Europe are a mixed picture when it comes to Israel. They strongly support Jewish nationalism, Zionism, and the nation state of the Jewish people. But their attitude toward Jews and the Holocaust is often highly questionable.
- The prime minister of Israel must put the interests of his country before ideological purity or attitude toward Jews in general. In a world in which so few nations support Israel and in which so many vote routinely to condemn it at the United Nations, Israel must not easily give up support from right-wing nationalists.
- So let us condemn European nationalists when their actions warrant condemnation, but let us welcome their support for Israel at a time when such support is becoming more and more essential.
 Pictured: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Jerusalem, Israel on July 19, 2018. (Image source: Kobi Gideon, Israel Government Press Office) |
Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argue that he should never speak to European nationalists because European nationalism often goes hand in hand with anti-Semitism.
Ironically (or perhaps hypocritically) many of these same critics urged Israeli prime ministers to speak to Yasser Arafat and other terrorist leaders who have advocated and practiced the murder of Jews. What is the difference? In both cases elected leaders have to hold their collective noses to speak to other leaders of whose ideologies and actions they strongly disapprove. But when you are the leader of a country, pragmatic realpolitik must often prevail over pure ideology.
Recall the grimace on the face of Yitzhak Rabin when President Clinton urged him to shake the hand of Yasser Arafat, a man who was personally responsible for ordering the murder of Israeli children, women and men. When I subsequently discussed this with Rabin, he said that his hand was shielded by the velvet glove of diplomacy. The left praised Rabin, as well they should have. But many of the same people now condemn Netanyahu for extending the same velvet glove of diplomacy to extreme European nationalists.
There are lines, of course, that no one should ever cross even with the protection of a velvet glove. But if that line was not crossed with Arafat, it certainly is not being crossed with Viktor Orbán and other nationalist leaders. The line cannot be based on the whether the alleged villain is right-wing, left-wing, Muslim or Christian. It must be a line based on objective factors.
The United States dealt, though quietly, with the leaders of Iran, and even dealt with Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin back in the 1930s and 1940s. President Roosevelt, when asked why he was dealing with the tyrannical leader of a central American dictatorship, famously responded: “He is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch.”
The nationalist leaders of central and eastern Europe are a mixed picture when it comes to Israel. They strongly support Jewish nationalism, Zionism, and the nation state of the Jewish people. But their attitude toward Jews and the Holocaust is often highly questionable. The prime minister of Israel must put the interests of his country before ideological purity or attitude toward Jews in general. In a world in which so few nations support Israel and in which so many vote routinely to condemn it at the United Nations, Israel must not easily give up support from right-wing nationalists.
One of the accusations made against Viktor Orbán is that he has attacked George Soros, the Jewish multi-billionaire whose activities in Europe and around the world are highly controversial. The reality is that Soros deserves to be criticized and the fact that he happens to be a Jew should not exempt him from such criticism. Soros has long been an enemy of Israel and has never been a particularly strong supporter of Jewish values. It is, therefore, ironic that criticizing him has seemed to be a benchmark for anti-Semitism.
