Antisemitism in various countries

Anti-Defamation League ADL conducts surveys regarding attitudes and opinions toward Jewish people in over hundred countries around the world (1). The Times of Israel reported about some recent findings. A survey conducted by ADL in 10 European countries found that significant portions of people in those countries believe various antisemitic stereotypes. Over third of people in Poland and Hungary still have “extensive” antisemitic beliefs, even though the amount of those kind of respondents is much smaller compared to previous survey. (2)

References:

1) ADL website: https://global100.adl.org/map/

2) “Over a third of people in Hungary, Poland have ‘extensive’ antisemitic beliefs – poll” The Times of Israel 31.5.2023

https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-a-third-of-people-in-hungary-poland-have-extensive-antisemitic-beliefs-poll/

International Day to Combat Islamophobia

Today is International Day to Combat Islamophobia. As we have seen in the news, Islamophobia is a major problem around the world. Some of the more recent examples of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias have been the “pogrom” carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian town of Huwara last month and the suggestion by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Huwara should be “wiped out” (1, 2). Sweden caused uproar in January when it gave far-right activist Rasmus Paludan permission to burn Quran. However, Sweden didn’t give permission to burn Torah, the holy book of Judaism. (3, 4) Controversial French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo seems to use every opportunity to insult Muslims – example of this was a cartoon mocking victims of the disastrous earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria (5).

Big Tech has had important role in spreading Islamophobia and anti-Muslim content. Last year Amnesty International published a report where it claimed that Facebook’s algorithms “proactively amplified” anti-Rohingya content and that Facebook’s parent company Meta “substantially contributed” to human rights violations perpetrated against Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar (6). Report published by Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) in Australia stated last year that nearly 86% of anti-Muslim posts on Twitter come from the USA, United Kingdom and India. The report noted that Twitter is “drastically failing at removing anti-Muslim content”. (7)

More information about the International Day to Combat Islamophobia:

https://www.un.org/en/observances/anti-islamophobia-day

References:

1) “Settler extremists are sowing terror, Huwara riot was a ‘pogrom,’ top general says” The Times of Israel 28.2.2023

https://www.timesofisrael.com/settler-extremists-sowing-terror-huwara-riot-was-a-pogrom-top-general-says/

2) “Far-right Israeli minister Smotrich claims his ‘wipe out Hawara’ comment was not a military order” The New Arab 9.3.2023

https://www.newarab.com/news/smotrich-backtracks-again-his-wipe-out-hawara-comment

3) “‘Over 1.5 billion Muslims hurt’: Reaction to Quran desecration in Sweden” TRT World 21.1.2023

https://www.trtworld.com/europe/over-1-5-billion-muslims-hurt-reaction-to-quran-desecration-in-sweden-64746

4) “Man prevented from desecrating Torah outside Israeli embassy in Sweden despite Quran burning incidents” The New Arab 28.1.2023

https://www.newarab.com/news/torah-burning-sweden-stopped-despite-quran-desecration

5) “The banality of evil: Charlie Hebdo mocks Türkiye quake victims” TRT World 7.2.2023

https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/the-banality-of-evil-charlie-hebdo-mocks-türkiye-quake-victims-65266

6) “Meta’s Facebook Algorithms ‘Proactively’ Promoted Violence Against the Rohingya, New Amnesty International Report Asserts” Time 28.9.2022

https://time.com/6217730/myanmar-meta-rohingya-facebook/

7) “Majority of anti-Muslim Twitter posts come from US, UK and India” Middle East Eye 19.9.2022

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/majority-anti-muslim-twitter-posts-come-us-uk-india

Atlas of Impunity

Eurasia Group and Chicago Council of Global Affairs published Atlas of Impunity during the recent Munich Security Conference. The Atlas is “a comprehensive index which tracks the abuse of power across five key societal dimensions – unaccountable governance, abuse of human rights, conflict, economic exploitation. and environmental degradation.” (1) The five countries with lowest impunity score are Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany. USA and Israel are closer to the median compared to the countries with least impunity. USA and Israel rank higher on the impunity than, for example, Hungary or Poland. The report states that also other world’s great regional powers – such as China, Russia, Brazil, India and Iran – “perform relatively poorly compared to economic and geographic peers”. (2)

References:

1) “‘Atlas of Impunity’ documents rise of unaccountable power in new and comprehensive global index” PRWeb 21.2.2023

https://www.prweb.com/releases/atlas_of_impunity_documents_rise_of_unaccountable_power_in_new_and_comprehensive_global_index/prweb19177229.htm

2) The Atlas of Impunity Eurasia Group 23.2.2023

https://www.eurasiagroup.net/live-post/atlas-of-impunity-2023#Report

Global Risks Report 2023

World Economic Forum has published Global Risks Report 2023. In top 10 risks ranking, “Cost-of-living-crisis” is considered to be the most severe global risk over the next two years, while “Failure to mitigate climate change” is considered to be the most severe global risk over the next 10 years. All six environmental risk categories are in the top 10 risks over the next 10 years. “Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse” is considered to be one of the fastest deteriorating global risks over the next decade.

Read the full report here:

https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2023/

The devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria

It has been heartbreaking to watch the devastation and suffering after the strong earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria on Monday. The scale of the disaster is enormous. The death toll is still rising and WHO estimated that 23 million people are affected by the earthquakes. Al Jazeera published a good graphical analysis of the disaster:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/7/more-than-100-earthquakes-were-recorded-across-turin-the-past-day

TRT World gave very good information about the ways you can help:

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/here-s-how-to-help-türkiye-and-syria-earthquake-victims-65261

References:

“Turkey declares state of emergency as WHO warns 23 million affected by earthquake” The National News 7.2.2023

https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/02/07/turkey-declares-state-of-emergency-as-who-warns-23-million-hit-by-quake/

Greater Israel and Yinon Plan

Now that it seems clear that the right-wing Israelis want more land for Israel with the help of right-wing Americans and other allies, we should pay attention to the idea of Greater Israel. I will enclose some links where you can find more information and writings about the idea of Greater Israel. It’s been said that the article written by Israeli official and journalist Oded Yinon in 1982 has influenced the American-Israeli right-wing politics for decades, it is often called the Yinon Plan.

1) Oded Yinon: “Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties” translated by Israel Shahak (1982)

https://www.slideshare.net/erikayred/the-zionistplanforthemiddleeast

2) “Greater Israel”: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East” GlobalResearch 28.12.2019

https://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815

3) Black, Ian: “The quest for a greater Israel” The Guardian 25.8.2009

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/25/quest-for-greater-israel

4) Chomsky, Noam: “The one state/two state debate is irrelevant as Israel and the US consolidate Greater Israel” Mondoweiss 24.10.2013

https://chomsky.info/20131024/

5) Becker, Ted – Polkinghorn, Brian: A New Pathway to World Peace: From American Empire to First Global Nation (2017)

https://books.google.tn/books/about/A_New_Pathway_to_World_Peace.html?id=f_hTDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

6) Kurtzer, Daniel C.: “Choices Facing the United States: Greater Israel or Global Israel?” Israel Studies Vol. 23 No. 3 Fall 2018 pp. 246-252

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/699560

7) Zimmerman, Simone: “American Jews Are Funding the Far-right Dream of Greater Israel. We Have to End This – Now” Haaretz 21.10.2018

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-u-s-jews-are-funding-the-far-right-dream-of-greater-israel-we-must-end-this-now-1.6575110

8) Erekat, Saeb: “It’s Time To Admit That The US Is Signing The Checks For Greater Israel” Forward 1.7.2019

https://forward.com/opinion/426846/its-time-to-admit-that-the-us-is-signing-the-checks-for-greater-israel/

After Auschwitz

Curiously enough, many important and dramatic events this week have something to do with the American-Israeli alliance.

Jerusalem hosted its largest-ever political gathering during the World Holocaust Forum before the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday (1, 2, 3). It is important to remember what kind of horrors the all-engulfing hatred led to during the 1930s and later on. I haven’t visited Auschwitz, but I visited former Dachau concentration camp near Munich in November 2008 and that somber memory will stay with me the rest of my life.

We see again the rise of right-wing populism and extremism. Antisemitism has increased in many countries. However, just like during the 1930s, also many other ethnic, religious and other groups are targeted.

The OSCE ODIHR hate crimes data gives some idea of the nature and amount of hate crimes in various countries. Here are just some examples of the hate crimes statistics from year 2018 (4):

On the left hand side of the table you can see in brackets the total amount of hate crimes recorded by police in each country.

The hate crimes statistics don’t necessarily give the whole picture of the situation. For example, a large survey conducted by Citizens UK, a British umbrella organisation of faith and community groups, suggested that the huge amount of hate crimes in 2018 was just a tip of the iceberg (5). Famous political scientist Cas Mudde pointed out in 2018 that even though victims have reported hate crimes in USA, many law enforcement agencies haven’t necessarily classified them as hate crimes. Almost one in five law enforcement agencies didn’t submit any hate crime reports during years 2009-2014. The National Crime Victimization survey suggested that there may have been as many as 250 000 annual hate crimes in USA during years 2004-2015. (6, 7)

References:

1) “Jerusalem hosts largest-ever political gathering for Holocaust forum” The Guardian 22.1.2020

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/22/jerusalem-hosts-largest-ever-political-gathering-for-holocaust-forum

2) “World leaders gather for Holocaust commemoration, 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz” NBC News 23.1.2020

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/world-leaders-gather-holocaust-commemoration-75-years-after-auschwitz-n1121051

3) UNESCO – International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2020

https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/holocaustremembranceday

4) OSCE ODIHR Hate Crime Data 2018

https://hatecrime.osce.org

5) “Hate crimes double in five years in England and Wales” The Guardian 15.10.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/15/hate-crimes-double-england-wales

6) “Hate crimes are as American as apple pie” The Guardian 27.12.2018

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/27/hate-crimes-america-cas-mudde

7) “Hate Crime Victimization, 2004-2015” Bureau of Justice Statistics June 2017

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/hcv0415_sum.pdf

“Seven countries in five years” – U.S. takeover plan for the Middle East and Africa

Due to the recent shocking events, here is a timely reminder of what retired U.S. general Wesley Clark revealed about American plans regarding some countries in the Middle East and Africa. According to him, soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks the Bush administration drew a list of seven Middle Eastern and African countries where they wanted to organize a regime change in five years, those countries were Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.

Here is a separate YouTube video link to a part of the Clark interview:

https://youtu.be/FNt7s_Wed_4

Reference:

“Global Warfare: ‘We’re Going to Take out 7 Countries in 5 Years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran…'” GlobalResearch 4.1.2020

https://www.globalresearch.ca/we-re-going-to-take-out-7-countries-in-5-years-iraq-syria-lebanon-libya-somalia-sudan-iran/5166

How right-wing populists and extremists use Christianity

Mark Galli, editor-in-chief of American religious magazine Christianity Today, wrote last week that President Trump is “morally lost” and should be removed from the office (1). Trump lashed out at the magazine in his tweets (2):

“A far left magazine, or very ‘progressive,’ as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President.”

During recent years right-wing populists and extremists have used Christianity to promote their own ideology and to justify their actions. For example, Hungarian far-right leader Viktor Orbán has used Christianity to strengthen his authoritarian control. Some years ago, Orbán wanted to build “an illiberal, a non-liberal state”, but recently he has called his country “a Christian democracy” (3, 4). Dutch far-right politician and infamous Islamophobe Geert Wilders has wanted to enshrine “the dominance of the Judeo-Christian tradition” in the Dutch constitution (5). Far-right groups and parties in many countries have organized anti-immigration and anti-Muslim demonstrations and political stunts on the pretext of defending Christianity or Judeo-Christian values. For example, German far-right anti-immigration and anti-Muslim movement PEGIDA has had religion-themed demonstrations in front of Frauenkirche in Dresden, British far-right group Britain First has organized “Christian Patrols”, French far-right party National Rally (former National Front) has organized commemoration march for their Catholic saint Joan of Arc, Italian far-right party Northern League had a political rally where their leader Matteo Salvini swore to “put the gospel into action” and Spanish far-right party Vox vowed to start a new “reconquista” (reference to the era when Christians defeated the Moors and “reconquered” Southern Spain). (6, 7, 8) In USA, among the myriad of right-wing populist and extremist groups there are also extreme anti-abortion, anti-government and even anti-taxation militias who find excuse for their violent actions from the Bible (9).

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist of President Trump, tried to get European far-right leaders to join his organization The Movement, but that operation hasn’t been as successful as he expected. However, Bannon also has another elaborate plan: he wants to educate next generation of far-right leaders, or “culture warriors”, at an “academy for the Judeo-Christian West” in Italy. The academy would be run by a right-wing Catholic think thank Dignitatis Humanae Institute which was founded by Bannon’s close associate Benjamin Harnwell. The academy would become a “school for gladiators” and it would offer instruction in theology, philosophy, history and politics but it also would “institutionalize the thoughts and political insights of Steve Bannon.” However, the project has run into difficulties with Italian government. (11, 12, 14) American Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was named honorary president of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, resigned. In his resignation letter Cardinal Burke wrote (13):

“In recent times it (i.e. the institute) has become more and more identified with the political program of Mr Bannon. While I have urged the institute to return to its original purpose of promoting the respect of human dignity it has not done so… I have therefore, effective immediately, terminated any relationship with the Dignitatis Humanae Institute.”

Bannon has also tried to build opposition against Pope Francis. Bannon advised Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini to attack the pope over the issue of migration and refugees. Pope Francis has made the plight of refugees important part of his papacy and he has asked for compassion towards migrants. Bannon sees Pope Francis as “enemy.” (14)

Also other people close to Trump have used Christianity in their endeavors. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave his speech in Cairo, Egypt, in January, he said (15):

“In my office, I keep a Bible open on my desk to remind me of God and His Word, and The Truth.

And it’s the truth, lower-case “t,” that I’m here to talk about today. It is a truth that isn’t often spoken in this part of the world, but because I’m a military man by training, I’ll be very blunt and direct today: America is a force for good in the Middle East.”

Pompeo also believes that it is possible that President Trump could be a new “Queen Esther” who will save Jews from “the Iranian menace.” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu thinks that evangelical Christians, such as Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo, are actually more reliable allies of Israel than liberal American Jews. (16) Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow and his family run many non-profit organizations, for example Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE). It has turned out that the Sekulow family has used tens of millions of dollars of the money that was donated to their organizations for their own vast salaries as well as unusual loans and property deals. (17, 18) Sekulow is the leader of Trump’s personal legal team and his son Jordan is also member of the team (19, 20).

Even though right-wing populists and extremists use Christianity in their political activities and propaganda, polls suggest that their supporters are actually disproportionately irreligious. Church attendance seems to be one of the strongest statistical predictors for voting against the populist far right. (6) Many Christian religious leaders have condemned the use of Christianity in the far-right propaganda and hate mongering (6, 7). There is also a lot of interfaith dialogue and cooperation organized by United Nations and many other international and national organizations, for example Parliament of the World’s Religions, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) and National Forum for Cooperation of Religions in Finland (CORE Forum). (21, 22, 23, 24)

References:

1) “Calling Trump ‘Morally Lost’, ‘Christianity Today’ Editor Calls For His Removal” NPR 20.12.2019

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790130632/christianity-today-editor-discusses-calling-for-trumps-impeachment

2) “Trump attacks Christianity Today over bruising editorial” The Hill 20.12.2019

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/475445-trump-attacks-christianity-today-over-bruising-editorial

3) “Full text of Viktor Orbán’s speech at Băile Tuşnad (Tusnádfürdő) of 26 July 2014” The Budapest Beacon 29.7.2014

https://budapestbeacon.com/full-text-of-viktor-orbans-speech-at-baile-tusnad-tusnadfurdo-of-26-july-2014/

4) “Orbán deploys Christianity with a twist to tighten grip in Hungary” The Guardian 14.7.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/14/viktor-orban-budapest-hungary-christianity-with-a-twist

5) “Can Geert Wilders be more than the Netherlands’ agitator-in-chief?” The Guardian 8.3.2017

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/can-geert-wilders-be-more-than-netherlands-far-right-agitator-in-chief

6) “Defenders of faith: why right-wing populists are embracing religion” New Statesman 30.5.2018

https://www.newstatesman.com/2018/05/defenders-faith-0

7) “Britain First’s Bury Park ‘Christian Patrol’ In Luton Condemned As ‘Intimidating’ And ‘Inflaming Tensions'” Huffington Post 26.1.2016

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/25/britain-first-luton-march-condemned_n_9067474.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmZpLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACaShTChTCMlkKHnZiAKzhGrd8Fe4J5w-Bityv62sHev310E29_OQSu4g97GYsaXZ28eRIvPcEgX1myuTIYbveyxDkIvy9NAyx49wAhwKGLNct3-UcrqS3ygBB8p1eu4PtEUTbQWmV2Wf9Olh2p4igWIEwooO7ZI8O3Z28v7q9bh&guccounter=2

8) “The rise of Spanish far-right party Vox shines light into the dark corners of the country’s politics” The National 5.1.2019

https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/the-rise-of-the-spanish-far-right-party-vox-shines-a-light-into-the-dark-corners-of-the-country-s-politics-1.809539

9) “Holy Hate: The Far Right’s Radicalization of Religion” Southern Poverty Law Center 10.2.2018

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2018/holy-hate-far-right’s-radicalization-religion

10) “Steve Bannon’s stuttering European adventure” Politico 19.4.2019

https://www.politico.eu/article/steve-bannon-european-parliament-the-movement-stuttering-european-adventure/

11) “Italy disrupts Steve Bannon’s plan for a right-wing academy in a monastery” The Washington Post 31.5.2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/italy-disrupts-steve-bannons-plan-for-a-right-wing-academy-in-an-italian-monastery/2019/05/31/0f804838-83d1-11e9-b585-e36b16a531aa_story.html

12) “Culture ministry failed to vet right-wing religious group close to Steve Bannon” The Art Newspaper 27.11.2019

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/culture-ministry-failed-to-vet-right-wing-group

13) “Cardinal Burke resigns from Dignitatis Humanae Institute” Independent Catholic News 27.6.2019

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/37362

14) “Steve Bannon ‘told Italy’s populist leader: Pope Francis is the enemy'” The Guardian 13.4.2019

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/13/steve-bannon-matteo-salvini-pope-francis-is-the-enemy

15) “A Force for Good: America Reinvigorated in the Middle East” U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran 10.1.2019

https://ir.usembassy.gov/a-force-for-good-america-reinvigorated-in-the-middle-east/

16) “The Rapture and the Real World: Mike Pompeo Blends Beliefs and Policy” The New York Times 30.3.2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/us/politics/pompeo-christian-policy.html?auth=login-email&login=email

17) “Trump lawyer’s firm steered millions in donations to family members, files show” The Guardian 27.6.2017

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/trump-lawyer-jay-sekulow-donations

18) “Who Is Jay Sekulow? Trump Attorney Funnels Millions to His Family Through Nonprofits” Right Wing Watch 7.3.2019

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/who-is-jay-sekulow-trump-attorney-funnels-millions-to-his-family-through-non-profits/

19) “Trump’s personal attorneys remain largely on the sidelines as the president contends with the impeachment inquiry” The Washington Post 3.12.2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-personal-attorneys-remain-largely-on-the-sidelines-as-the-president-contends-with-impeachment-inquiry/2019/12/03/1076807c-150d-11ea-8406-df3c54b3253e_story.html

20) “Jordan Sekulow: President’s legal team working on two theories to bolster defense against impeachment” Fox News 21.12.2019

https://www.foxnews.com/media/jordan-sekulow-impeachment-legal-defense-president-trump-nancy-pelosi

21) World Interfaith Harmony Week United Nations

https://www.un.org/en/events/interfaithharmonyweek/index.shtml

22) Parliament of the World’s Religions

https://parliamentofreligions.org

23) KAICIID

https://www.kaiciid.org

24) CORE Forum

https://uskot.fi/en/home-2/

The hardline American-Israeli alliance

The situation in USA and Israel, and now also in Britain, is quite extraordinary. USA and Britain have been seen as strong, some might say leading democracies, but the recent developments are worrying. As the right-wing parties in all these three countries have been veering more and more to the right, there are signs that the traditional parliamentary democracy and the rule of law are not respected, anymore. Trump has campaigned right from the beginning against the traditional American political system and “elite.” Nigel Farage, friend of Trump, regular guest on Fox News and leader of the far-right Brexit party, has repeatedly talked about the need for a “revolution.” (1, 2, 3) In the election manifesto of the British Conservative Party there is a mention:

“After Brexit we also need to look at the broader aspects of our constitution: the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts; the functioning of the Royal Prerogative; the role of the House of Lords; and access to justice for ordinary people.” (4, page 48)

Many political decisions seem to favor industrialists and other super-rich, for example tax cuts introduced by President Trump, his climate change denial and changes to environmental legislation (5, 6, 7, 8). In Britain, the Conservative party is now dependent on ultra-rich pro-Brexit donors (9). Xenophobia, racism and all kinds of hate crimes have increased significantly (10, 11). Where is this all leading to? Is there a possibility that we will see emergence of a new political regime, or “empire”, that is some sort of combination of laissez-faire capitalism and fascism ? A far-right plutocracy?

The first casualty has probably been the truth. The right-wing populist leaders in these countries – and elsewhere – are a new breed, not only do they make false claims and promises but they also do it without shame. Alastair Campbell, who worked as director of communications for Tony Blair, said that President Trump, Prime Minister Johnson and others like them have shown that we have moved from post-truth to post-shame (12). Also, the current political leaders of all these three countries – President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Johnson – are facing possible trial because of their dubious activities (13, 14, 15).

Here are more of my novice observations of the situation in each of the three countries. First, USA. One of the key slogans Donald Trump used during his first presidential campaign was, “Drain the swamp!” Trump promised to clean Washington from old political elite and make the American government “honest once again” (1). However, President Trump has surrounded himself with far-right figures and politicians with connections to anti-Muslim and other hate groups (16, 17, 18, 19). He has also hired super-rich and corporate lobbyists, he even has rewarded some of his billionaire supporters by giving them role as ambassadors – in Gordon Sondland’s case, that didn’t turn out to be such a wise decision, as we have seen during the impeachment hearings. Trump claimed that the impeachment inquiry is “an attempted coup” (20, 21, 22, 23, 24). Another Trump’s slogan has been, “America first” (25). During Trump’s presidency, USA has decided to leave international organizations and agreements, for example UNESCO, Palestinian aid organization UNRWA and the Paris climate agreement (26, 27, 28). Furthermore, Trump has now attacked World Trade Organization WTO and forced it’s top court to shut down (29, 30, 31). Trump also criticized World Bank for loaning money to China (32). During his interview last summer, Trump said that the EU is a competitor and therefore “a foe” just like Russia and China (33). Trump is arguably the most pro-Israel president USA has ever had. During Israeli American Council national summit last week, Trump declared that he is Israel’s best friend in the White House (34). Trump has made several political decisions that were favorable to Israel, including the decision to leave UNICEF and UNRWA. Trump has also recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and he transferred US Embassy there. Trump also said that the occupied Golan Heights belong to Israel (35, 36). Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed that he talked about American-Israeli mutual defense pact and annexation of Jordan Valley with Secretary of State Pompeo during their recent meeting in Lisbon, Portugal – curiously enough, USA denied this (37).

Benjamin Netanyahu has become the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Israel. He has cooperated with right-wing populists and far right in Israel and elsewhere – in Europe, Brazil and with Trump. (38, 39, 40) Former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Netanyahu used “Machiavellian” tactics in order to “play” Trump (41). Netanyahu’s political campaigns have also caused controversy. Facebook suspended Netanyahu’s campaign page briefly in September because of an inflammatory message regarding Arabs (42). Netanyahu has vowed to annex the Jordan Valley and rest of the West Bank, if he will be able to continue as prime minister. However, the recent elections in Israel have been a very tight race and Netanyahu hasn’t been able to form a government (37). After Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced criminal charges against him, last month, Netanyahu accused the judiciary, the police and others of attempted “coup.” During protests, Netanyahu’s supporters called him “the king of Israel.” (43, 44)

In a way, the dramatic and worrying developments in the American-Israeli alliance can be seen particularly well in Britain, where Boris Johnson’s carefully choreographed rise to power, his controversial decision to prorogue the parliament and his aggressive populistic rhetoric have started a new era in British politics. (45, 46, 47) Some of the key traits of Boris Johnson are his casual, populistic hatemongering and his complete untrustworthiness. Johnson has become infamous for his offensive and inflammatory comments about women, EU, EU citizens, ethnic minorities, Muslims and many others (48, 49, 50, 51). However, he has said in interviews that he is strongly pro-Israel and “passionate Zionist” (52). Lord Cooper, who worked for former PM David Cameron, described Johnson like this (53):

“The rottenness of Boris Johnson goes deeper even than his casual racism and his equally casual courting of fascism. He will advocate literally anything to play to the crowd of the moment. His career is a saga of moral emptiness and lies; pathetic, weak and needy; the opposite of strong.”

Peter Oborne and a group of other journalists have started a facts check website regarding Johnson’s lies. Oborne wrote yesterday that Johnson’s Conservatives are “a revolutionary sect” (54, 55). Alexandra Hall Hall, lead envoy for Brexit in the British Embassy in USA, resigned last week. In her letter of resignation she wrote (56):

“I have been increasingly dismayed by the way in which our political leaders have tried to deliver Brexit, with reluctance to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges and trade-offs which Brexit involves; the use of misleading or disingenuous arguments about the implications of the various options before us; and some behaviour towards our institutions, which, were it happening in another country, we would almost certainly as diplomats have received instructions to register our concern”.

“It makes our job to promote democracy and the rule of law that much harder, if we are not seen to be upholding these core values at home.”

“I am also at a stage in life where I would prefer to do something more rewarding with my time, than peddle half-truths on behalf of a government I do not trust.”

Also Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland and key ally of the Conservative Party, said on Monday that Johnson had betrayed their trust (57).

President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Johnson will have to fight for their political survival in the coming days. Johnson will be the first one to face the test during the general election today. Just like during the Conservative leadership race in the summer, Johnson has tried to avoid too much scrunity by refusing to take part to some televised debates and interviews (58, 59). Johnson, Trump and Netanyahu also seem to have wanted to avoid each other. Johnson and Trump were not planning to have a formal meeting during recent NATO summit in London. However, they met at 10 Downing Street (60, 61). Prime Minister Netanyahu was planning to travel to the NATO summit, but that trip was cancelled due to “logistical problems.” Netanyahu met Secretary of State Pompeo in Lisbon, instead. (62, 63) When Trump spoke to the Israeli American Council, last weekend, he didn’t mention Netanyahu (64).

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