The Israeli turn even further to the right – a reaction from Aotearoa – New Zealand

JVL Introduction

This piece from Aotearoa – New Zealand is an understandably angry response to the Israeli election results where, to govern, Netanyahu will depend on the (even more) Far Right, ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism Party led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. These two people are so far to the right that even Establishment Jewish Organisations in the UK have expressed grave concerns.   While this is slightly more than the equivalent bodies in Aotearoa – NZ, the British organisations still praise Israel for its “robust democratic practices” and, predictably, say nothing about the treatment of Palestinians living within the military control of Israel, most of whom had no opportunity to vote and who have suffered for decades under all Israeli governments, not least those led by Netanyahu even without the support of the Far Right.

Will this embrace of the Far Right, fascist wing in Israel finally be a step too far for many supporters of Israel?  Not for the UK government which said Israel remains an “important partner” regardless of these results; and not for the so called Labour so called Opposition when a spokesperson for Starmer said that the rise of the far right “would not alter his belief in ‘strong relationship between Britain and Israel”

This article was originally published by Sh'ma Koleinu – Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ) on Sun 6 Nov 2022. Read the original here.