Last Thursday, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and its former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. While the warrants were discussed and mentioned by the Court for quite a while, it was still surprising and for some, disappointing, that they were issued. The practical result is that both Israeli Statesmen cannot travel to any of the 130 countries that recognize the ICC without risking to be arrested.
A few days earlier, it became known that former Israeli Minister, Ms. Ayelet Shaked, was refused entry into Australia.
Other Israeli politicians hesitate to travel to most countries in the world (with the exception of the U.S.A., Argentina, Hungary and several more, because they are worried what their presence may break loose anger at the local population.
Regular Israeli tourists are traveling less and less because of the fear that they may be assaulted. What happened in Amsterdam was extreme, but also in Great Britain, Greece, Canada and other countries, the risk of being confronted by local groups is real, and too much for many.
It was obvious of course what the reaction of the Israeli government and its leader would be: Anti-Semitism. Netanyahu even went as far as comparing himself to Alfred Dreyfuss, (a Jewish captain in the French army who was falsely accused and sent into exile at Devil’s Island) but that was dismissed as ridiculous even by some of his associates.
But the simple facts are there: Israelis, tourists and politicians alike, are more and more restricted in the places they can safely travel to (apart from the exorbitant prices the Israeli carrier ElAl charges) and so they stay home and cry Anti-Semitism.
And that is where the main basic problem lies. Anti-semitism exists and has grown worse in the past year, and the developments are worrisome and scary. But Israelis today cannot travel not because of anti-Semitism. The can’t travel because they are Israelis. The comparison between Anti-Semitism and anti-Israel is ridiculous and doesn’t hold any water and trivializes anti-Semitism more than anything else.
Israelis, and especially the Israeli government have to realize that an on-going war in Gaza, and now in Lebanon, with more that forty thousand people killed, seventy percent of them women and children. A war, with more than a million displaced people, whose houses have been destroyed A war where aerial bombings are used routinely to kill terrorist leaders, no matter what the “collateral damage” will be. A war that doesn’t end even though many Israelis have had enough. A war that has gone way beyond the legitimate self-defense of Israel in response to the horrific disaster of October 7th last year and has become, as many are convinced, a tool in the hands of Netanyahu to stay in power.
Israelis need to understand, that atrocities committed by the Israeli army feature daily on News shows the world over (even if in Israel nothing of this is shown) and for many it has become intolerable. The anger towards Israel, and Israelis will become stronger with every bombardment, with very evacuation order by the Israeli army to the local population, with every destruction of infrastructure and hospitals.
And no doubt, it won’t be long until this anger and frustration will find its expression in investments in Israel, even if the country is still considered a hi-tech nation. Even donations from Jews and Jewish organizations will ultimately be affected, and the Israel economy will see the (negative) results.
So where is the Israeli government? Is anything being done except shouting “Anti-Semitism”? It appears nobody even cares about the economy. The Finance minister is fully occupied by preparing the occupied West Bank for annexation, the new Defense minister saw it necessary to release Jewish terrorists from imprisonment so they could return to their activities in the occupied territories. And the Prime Minister? He has only one thing in mind. His survival as MP and any means to reach that objective seems appropriate and allowed. This of course while approximately forty percent of Israelis still believe he is the best choice to lead this country. Lead it where? Into the Abyss?
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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