In Europe, long a vital source of support for Israel, the political center of gravity is moving away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Spain, Ireland and Norway on Wednesday recognized Palestinian statehood, despite vehement Israeli and American opposition. And most European governments offered unequivocal support to the International Criminal Court this week, after it requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas.
Israel still has staunch allies within the European Union, especially Hungary and the Czech Republic, and key players like Germany, despite growing discomfort with Israel’s conduct, have not shown any inclination to alter their stance. The growing fissures within Europe mean that the consensus-driven European Union will not change its positions any time soon.
But European countries face rising international and domestic pressure to take a firmer stand against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian territories, and particularly the devastating war in Gaza.
The majority of Israelis are in support of both the settlements and ethnic cleansing of the west bank as well as currently in favor of the genocide in Gaza. Unfortunately the opposition to violence and the worst crimes against humanity are a small minority inside Israel. Which goes to show what happens when a ethnofascist state gets impunity and support for decades.
Turning Israel into a democracy in the sense of the mainstream and majority of the people recognizing and supporting basic human and civil rights will take generations of reeducation or a total defeat. However the total defeat route didnt work in Germany either as fascism and authoritarianism are alive and well in Germany, with many people claiming to be “center” or even “progressive” to be fiercely authoritarian and deeply racist.