There’s been much said by the UK Government about the evils of Iran and Russia and I’m not going to disagree. But you’re also judged by the friends you keep not simply the paragon of virtue you seek to portray yourself as.
The UK’s unseemly closeness to Saudi Arabia has long been challenged but executions and state murders of journalists there are overlooked as money from the arms trade keeps kerchinging into the coffers of Tory pals. But now the hypocrisy’s further exposed with their welcoming of the latest Israeli Government. The latest administration has meant its been far from a Happy Christmas in the Holy Land.
Leaving aside my sympathies for the Palestinian cause, this is the nadir in what has been a descent from what seem heady days with the likes of Golda Meir or Yitzak Rabin. When Menachim Begin became Prime Minister there was a lurch to the right. His background as the leader of the Irgun, a terrorist organisation which had killed British soldiers, often cold bloodedly, during the operation of the British mandate was cast aside.
That was later followed by Ariel Sharon who moved us from terrorism to full blooded war with his actions as military leader in the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. That wasn’t just an incursion but an assault on innocents.
Now its Netanyahu who has been Prime Minister before and is a man who puts Trump and Berlusconi in the shade for dodgy dealings and self-enrichment. His re-election even under that dark cloud of suspicion and investigation is bad enough. It’s worsened though by who he’s gone into coalition with to ensure power. These aren’t just right wingers but neo-fascists. It’s not a defence of Israel as old Israel PMs would have argued for. It’s a step towards the obliteration of the Palestinian people with those deigned Israeli Arabs living in an apartheid society.
We’ve already seen the provocative actions by the new Justice Secretary in approaching shared religious sites But it’s compounded by proposals to undermine the Judiciary. All this as 2022 saw a horrendous death toll of Palestinians and repeated incursions into Palestinian lands.
This is a gangster government and they should be shunned, as their actions must be condemned.