The difference here is that Israel is a functioning democracy. There are zionists right wing lunatics in the government, in the same way the UK (where I live) who would happily instigate the lynching of asylum seekers. They get to vote for their candidate and their candidates don’t get very far.
The rise of the far right in Israel is inextricably linked to violent action by Palestinians, so much so that Netanyahu helped fund Hamas as part of a keeping the Palestinians from coalescing around a more moderate political position. The October 7th attacks were a reactiin to the success of the Abraham Accord. Hamas attacking Israel is exactly the sort of fuel the hawks need. It benefits both sets of extremists that the other behaves that way.
The difference is that the Palestinians haven’t had an election since 2006. Hamas are an autocratic theocracy. Decisions made by millionaires in Qatar threw their own population into a very smart propaganda war. One in which the lens of oppressor and oppressed allows the west to move away from the centre ground and into open self-admonishment.
Netanyahu et al can be (and will be) voted out, but not whilst the world continues to apply standards to Israel it wouldn’t apply elsewhere. It solidifies the Jewish identity and moves everyone to the right. The Palestinian people were also betrayed by Hamas, who cannot be voted out and who will need to be removed as a political government entity.
Netanyahu’s folly, amongst many other things is he has made the same mistake as Bush, Powell, Cheney and Rice. You can topple a military autocracy, particularly one which is demonstrably bad for the native demos, but once you’ve pushed Humpty off the wall, you’d better have a good idea of how to put the fucker back together again.
As always, the centre ground position isn’t popular - but it’s significantly less misguided than Hamas should be supported by liberals everywhere because a knee jerk decision has been made on flawed Marxist reasoning.
The people of the Middle East have two enemies: the extremists in both countries. They fuel each other. Picking sides is like preferring to be punched by one hand over the other.
