Yesterday, the prime ministers of Greece and the Netherlands visited Israel to express their support for the Government in these critical hours (and in the process strengthen the image of Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu). Today it will be the turn of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
As the media critical of the government highlight, Netanyahu now has more photographs with Western leaders on a pilgrimage to Israel than with those injured in the October 7 attacks or attendees at the funerals of the 1,400 dead Israelis, after the poor reception shown to the ministers who approached the area bordering Gaza.
The Western pilgrimage, launched by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, resembles that of Ukraine as soon as it became clear that Volodymyr Zelensky was holding on in Kyiv and embodied Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. With an air of racing and despite the logistical difficulties, the European leaders traveled to Kyiv even at the cost of being received with “swords” of military and financial aid. Apparently, these were win-win photographs, positive for both Zelensky and the leader in question. It's not always the case now...
The fashion for short visits, something like Kyiv-style diplomacy, is reproduced at an accelerated pace in Israel, with a similar staging. The prime minister receives the visitor on duty at the entrance to his official residence. Netanyahu always wears a black shirt and pants and appears outgoing.
The list grows daily. After President Biden, the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, whose international profile is still below the “brand” he represents.
As soon as the Shabbat, the sacred holiday of weekly rest, ended, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, appeared, the only one who mentioned an “anti-Semitic” background to the terrorist attack, in indirect response to the demonstrations of support for the Palestinians in several European cities. “We fought yesterday and we have to fight against anti-Semitism today.” The Israeli prime minister welcomed the move, symbolic or not. “There is something better for us than being next to Israel and that is being in Israel.”
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutter, and Netanyanhu yesterday conveyed a sincere and non-protocol relationship. As is the norm, the Israeli prime minister characterizes what happened as a “battle for civilization” and reiterated that Hamas is the new ISIS, which was fought without much consideration in Syria.
The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, coming from the failed Cairo summit, appeared to be the least formal guest and the most “political” because while expressing the solidarity of the Government and the Greek people, he reminded the host that we must distinguish between Hamas and the Palestinian people as well as take into account the civilian population, within the “right of response” that assists Israel.
Today, the turn of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who will hardly fail to mention, in line with Mitsotakis, the distinction between Hamas and Palestinian civilians as well as the moral obligation to minimize their victims and suffering. Two obvious factors will weigh on the visit: France has seven citizens kidnapped (Israel yesterday put the total number at 222, from more than forty countries), it has suffered thirty deaths at the hands of Hamas and it is one of the countries with the largest and most problematic population. Muslim of Europe.
Israel needs neither military aid – except from the United States – nor financial assistance. There are no public requests to the visitors but there is a need to receive support on the eve of a ground offensive that will leave heartbreaking images and a trail of blood. The fate of the hostages is another important piece of information in the background of the visits, although discretion in this regard is hermetic.
Curiously, the Israeli government has discreetly rejected the request of the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew and one of the first and most forceful critics of Hamas terrorism, to visit Israel. The unofficial argument is that “it is not the right time,” according to what was leaked to the press. Russia has bases and fleet in Syria and Syria has influence in Lebanon, its northern neighbor.
