‘Even Israel’

Within minutes of the devastating explosion in Beirut on Tuesday, it was clear to some people what had caused it. Or rather, who had caused it: Israel. For the extreme left, who may no longer run the Labour Party but are still dangerously influential in academia and parts of the media, Israel is always the culprit, everywhere. One notorious Corbynite responded to the explosion by tweeting: “Thermobaric weapon. Only one Air Force uses them so liberally.” Quite apart from the almost comical display of stupidity in asserting the cause of the explosion before a single fact was known, it was a classic of its kind, with hatred of Israel leading to instant blame for no reason other than hatred of Israel. But as Ronald Lauder puts it in his interview with us this week: “Who do you think lives in Israel, Martians?” No wonder so many Jews in this country feel under attack from the hard left when Israel is so casually invoked.

Not that any of this is remotely surprising. Even when Israel is not being blamed, the likes of former Swedish PM Carl Bildt feel it appropriate to say in response to its offer of aid that “even Israel” has been quick to offer it. “Even Israel”, the nation that is almost always among the first on the scene of any disaster, no matter where in the world, and whose disaster relief personnel are globally renowned. But then, as Baroness Tonge showed when she used Israel’s response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010 to call for an inquiry into made up allegations of IDF organ trafficking, there is no disaster and no response that cannot be turned into an antisemitic conspiracy.