IMAGE: AFP / PEDRO UGARTE
“The best answer to anti-Semitism is the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces [IDF],” Prime Minister as well as Defense Minister, Foreign Minister and Health Minister of the “only democracy” in the Middle East Benjamin Netanyahu stated commenting on a poll that showed over a quarter of Europeans believe that Israeli leadership itself fuels anti-Jewish sentiment.
“Once we were a leaf driven by the wind; they could slaughter us. Today, we have the power to respond” he added saying that the IDF is has a highl-class fighting spirit.
Earlier, the results of the CNN poll discovered that more than 28% of Europeans believe that anti-Jewish sentiments in their countries are mostly fueled by the actions of the Israeli leadership itself. Additionally, 18% said that anti-Semitism was a response to the everyday behavior of Jewish people.
The modern Israeli leadership has been openly denying that its own actions are fueling tensions in the Middle East, in partucular in the conflcits in Syria and Gaza. So, there is nothing new in that this appraoch is also employed toward the European audiency.
However, this situation shows that the combat against “anti-Semitism” narrative is becoming less and less useful for the Israeli leaders to justify its regional policy.
