After the Oct. 7 attacks organized by Hamas against Israeli targets and Israel’s harsh reaction and genocidal policies have shown that the Western global powers, who have been intervening in the domestic affairs of other nations in the name of modernism, human rights and democracy for decades, are heavily dependent on the pro-Israeli lobby. Most so-called liberal Western states have abandoned their longtime liberal claims for the sake of Israeli interests. By mobilizing all of their resources, they have been supporting authoritarian regimes in the region, violating basic human rights and committing war crimes.
From the colonization of the African continent to the invasion of states such as Afghanistan and Iraq, all these interventions were allegedly made in the name of modernism and liberalism. This was the dominant rhetoric of the Western states for decades. Recently, this political discourse has been criticized worldwide. However, the aggressive Israeli policies and its latest genocidal attacks against innocent Palestinians and the unconditional and continuous Western support to Israeli policies have uncovered the hypocrisy of the Western countries.
The recent developments in Palestine have revealed that the Western powers have been largely dependent on pro-Israeli forces. Accepting to lose ground in many regions and to pay the price of supporting Israel, they willingly continue to sacrifice their values and principles for the sake of Israel.
First of all, Israel has put the final nail in the coffin of the nation-state, the Israeli parliament passed the so-called “nation-state bill” or the basic law in 2018. According to this bill, Israel is not a territorial nation-state, but the state of the Jewish people, wherever they live. With this bill, Israel began to officially apply an apartheid regime by otherizing non-Jewish citizens. According to an article of the bill, “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.” Although this bill is a clear deviation from the Westphalian system and has a disruptive effect on the current international system, Western countries did not even criticize Israel for passing this law.
Second, Western countries, the United States in particular, have been rejecting the implementation of the resolutions accepted by United Nations institutions. Western countries either use their veto powers in the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and prevent the UNSC from making any anti-Israeli decision most of the time or prevent the implementation of the decisions. Large Western countries have been opposing the decisions made by the Western-established international organizations, including the U.N. Western countries have remained indifferent to Israel’s declaration of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization. Israel continuously hit the UNRWA in Palestine, including camps and schools.
Third, Western countries have largely remained indifferent to the occupation of the Arab lands by Israel for decades. Israel not only occupies the Palestinian lands, but also some parts of Lebanese and Syrian territories. The UNSC passed resolutions calling Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, but Western countries have begun to officially recognize the occupation. For instance, the U.S. government officially recognized the Golan Heights, which has been under occupation since 1967, as part of Israel. Thus, the U.S. and other Western countries have paved the way for other powers to follow the same path and invade territories belonging to other states. Therefore, Western countries have no right to oppose the invasion of any territory by any country.
Fourth, most Western governments have been giving the utmost support to the Netanyahu government to commit the genocide in Palestine. By supporting genocide crimes, Western governments have begun to alienate their citizens, which causes polarization in their societies. The pro-human rights groups, especially the youth, in Western countries have been criticizing their governments’ policies. It was ironic when Netanyahu accused the American people, who protested the Israeli genocide at American university campuses and in city centers, as “Iranian useful idiots” while Congress members applauded him. Unfortunately, American officials could not plainly oppose this claim.
Fifth, those who know the main tenets of the American political system, consider it normal when members of Congress give unconditional support to Israel because they are largely dependent on the funding of the Jewish and pro-Israeli lobbies. Therefore, they are afraid to hesitate to support Israeli policies. It is ironic to see that large segments of American society oppose Netanyahu’s policies, while the majority of Congress still supports his genocidal policies. For instance, no presidential candidate, neither Democrat nor Republican, dares to criticize Israeli atrocities for the last nine months.
In other words, by following unconditional and continuous pro-Israeli policies, the U.S. elites have begun to alienate their people. This process will have negative implications on the American political system in the long run, since most Americans and also peoples of other Western countries are largely aware of what is going on in Palestine. It has become much more difficult for the mainstream media to support the pro-Israeli narrative. The alternative media platforms, and especially non-Western social media platforms, provide neutral information about the Israeli atrocities in Palestine.
All in all, global Western powers are able to influence and intervene in the domestic politics of most non-Western states. However, they are unable to resist against any Israeli demand. The large Western countries have been prioritizing the national interests of Israel over their own national interests because they are willing to cover the costs caused by Israeli atrocities. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to claim that most Western governments are taken hostage by pro-Israel power circles. It seems that Western governments are ready to pay any price for the benefit of Israel. Thus, they continue to invest in power politics and pave the way for a systemic war.
