Taking road to ruin

IN THE past few weeks Israel has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. There have been punch-ups with the outgoing Obama administration, which, consistent with decades-old policy on settlements, chose to abstain from a landmark UN vote rather than exercise its veto to block it. There were reportedly threats of war to nations that voted for the resolution. A case of an Israeli soldier who was sentenced for shooting a severely wounded Palestinian attacker saw what Israeli newspapers describe as “hooligans” descend to intimidate judges and the army.

In Britain this week the Israeli ambassador had to apologise to foreign office minister Sir Alan Duncan after an embassy official was caught on camera in an undercover sting plotting to “take down” MPs – including Sir Alan – regarded as outspoken supporters of a Palestinian state.

Only the week before Theresa May scolded US secretary of state John Kerry for calling out the current government in Israel for what it is: “the most right wing in Israel history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements”.

While Barack Obama stuck to the script of US foreign policy in the region, his successor, Donald Trump, says he won’t. Trump has nominated as ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a donor to the settlement movement, who is if anything to the right of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The family of Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser Jared Kushner has donated to illegal settlements. This will suit Netanyahu. He heads a coalition of right-wing radicals accused of seeing democracy as being synonymous with unchecked majority rule.

This has changed Israeli society: in a poll last year four-fifths said Jews should be given preferential treatment. Half thought Arabs should be expelled.

Foreign ministers meeting this weekend to discuss the peace process should remind Netanyahu of where he is heading.. Meanwhile the rhetoric of reaction goes unchecked, which is a road to ruin.