The British government says it is suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and leveling new sanctions targeting West Bank settlers as it criticizes Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
The U.K. suspended free trade talks with Israel on Tuesday and hit West Bank settlers with sanctions, less than a day after vowing “concrete actions” if Israel didn’t stop its new military offensive in Gaza.
Israeli diplomacy on this issue has been virtually non-existent. It really cannot be reiterated how badly the Israeli state department has bungled international relations, given that they had an open hand at genocide as recently as a month ago.
I’m not willing to take Starmer’s response at face value, because I haven’t seen exactly what caused the heel-turn. The New Labour government loves to give passionate speeches and then reneg on their pledges weeks later. But I can see the UK caving to pressure from other Middle Eastern and European allied states, particularly if the ongoing genocide - and the Yemeni reprisal around the Suez - is seen as an economic issue rather than a humanitarian one.
Now see if you can snatch Netanyahu and put him in The Hague where he belongs.
Consider the fate of Fulgencio Batista, Fransisco Franco, and Augusto Pinochet. Consider the fate of Idi Amin and Mohammad Reza Shah and Oliver Tambo and Robert Mugabe. Even when your country disintegrates under your feet, the elites never seem to suffer any serious undo consequences.
The absolute best thing we can hope for with regard to Netanyahu is that a more zealous member of his coalition decides to do an officer’s coup and paint the PM’s office with Bibi’s brain matter. But no civil justice system will ever touch the man. If he leaves office, he’ll spend the rest of his life in high luxury, floating through the western Zionist cocktail circuit in the Commemorative Henry Kissinger Seat Of Honor.
Israeli diplomacy on this issue has been virtually non-existent. It really cannot be reiterated how badly the Israeli state department has bungled international relations, given that they had an open hand at genocide as recently as a month ago.
It’s genuinely incredible to see how openly evil the Likud/Khanist extremists in charge have acted, and how reflexive and hollow the counter-messaging has become from Netanyahu
Yair Golan, the leader of the opposition Democrats who served as deputy chief of staff for Israel’s military before entering politics, said that after an unjustifiably brutal campaign, much of the damage [to Israel’s reputation] had already been done. “A sane country doesn’t engage in fighting against civilians, doesn’t kill babies as a hobby and doesn’t set the expulsion of a population as a goal,” he said.
Netanyahu attacked Golan’s comments as “contemptible antisemitic blood libels against IDF soldiers and the state of Israel”, but Golan later doubled down on his position in a press conference.
Israeli diplomacy on this issue has been virtually non-existent. It really cannot be reiterated how badly the Israeli state department has bungled international relations, given that they had an open hand at genocide as recently as a month ago.
I’m not willing to take Starmer’s response at face value, because I haven’t seen exactly what caused the heel-turn. The New Labour government loves to give passionate speeches and then reneg on their pledges weeks later. But I can see the UK caving to pressure from other Middle Eastern and European allied states, particularly if the ongoing genocide - and the Yemeni reprisal around the Suez - is seen as an economic issue rather than a humanitarian one.
Consider the fate of Fulgencio Batista, Fransisco Franco, and Augusto Pinochet. Consider the fate of Idi Amin and Mohammad Reza Shah and Oliver Tambo and Robert Mugabe. Even when your country disintegrates under your feet, the elites never seem to suffer any serious undo consequences.
The absolute best thing we can hope for with regard to Netanyahu is that a more zealous member of his coalition decides to do an officer’s coup and paint the PM’s office with Bibi’s brain matter. But no civil justice system will ever touch the man. If he leaves office, he’ll spend the rest of his life in high luxury, floating through the western Zionist cocktail circuit in the Commemorative Henry Kissinger Seat Of Honor.
It’s genuinely incredible to see how openly evil the Likud/Khanist extremists in charge have acted, and how reflexive and hollow the counter-messaging has become from Netanyahu
Duterte’s at the Hague right now, maybe him and Bibi can share a cell
Duterte is only in the Hague because he pissed off the equally insufferable fascist Bong Bong Marcos.
All the fascists are fated to piss off other fascists 🌈