Gaza and global neofascism

First published in Arabic at Al-Quds al-Arabi. Translation from Gilbert Achcar's blog.

Most of the recent electoral rounds in Western countries (lately in Norway and Germany) have yielded worrying results that confirm the rise of racist far-right forces. This buttresses the characterization of the era we live in as one comparable to the fascistic era between the two world wars of the past century, but in a new guise claiming to respect the democratic form of government, among other new features. Hence the labelling of these forces as neofascist (see “The age of neofascism and its distinctive features”).

One of the most worrying characteristics of the current neofascist era is that it includes, in addition to the countries of continental Europe, the two Western countries that confronted the fascist axis in the last century in alliance with the Soviet Union: the United States and Britain. As the neofascist transformation of the US regime, overseen by Donald Trump and his acolytes, becomes more evident day after day, London witnessed last Saturday the largest rally organized by the far right in British history. This came against the backdrop of public opinion polls indicating that the far right, led by Nigel Farage, is leading the Labour and Conservative parties.

Yet, it is no coincidence that the representatives of the political “center” in both countries, Joe Biden in the United States and Keir Starmer in Britain, have distinguished themselves by their support for Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. The current government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which oversaw this genocidal war and received unconditional support from both men for long, is the most extreme right-wing government in the history of the Zionist state. Indeed, it is the most extreme right-wing government in our current world, uniting the neofascist Likud Party with even more right-wing parties, most notably the neo-Nazi groups of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who openly favor authoritarian rule and ethnic cleansing.

Western governments’ support for the Zionist genocidal war in Gaza was part of a gradual banalization of the far right by the “centrists”. It was preceded by the latter’s adoption of the former’s positions on immigration, which led to the acceptance of far-right racism as a legitimate ideology. Western support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza, in stark contrast to the position of the same Western governments toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine, undermined the last vestiges of credibility held by Western liberal powers regarding respect for international law and adherence to rules-based international relations. The latest to point out this discrepancy was the Spanish Prime Minister, who went the furthest among Western governments in his turnaround and criticism of the Zionist government, calling for a boycott of Israel in international competitions, just as Russia was boycotted, in order to avoid the duality that invalidates all standards.

While the Western “center” supported the Zionist far-right government, the latter did not respond in kind, however. Instead, Netanyahu and his allies directly contributed to reinforcing the Western far right at the expense of the “center”. This was not limited to Netanyahu’s support for Trump’s presidential campaign at the expense of the latter’s Democratic rivals, despite the unlimited support provided by their president, Biden, for his war. The Israeli government did also whitewash the Western far right, obliterating its history which saw antisemitism as a fundamental ideological pillar before replacing it with Islamophobia. The current alliance between the Zionist state and the Western far right relies on hostility toward Islam and Muslims as a shared ideological foundation.

Thus, Netanyahu and his allies have continued to exert efforts to strengthen the Western far right. An instance of that is the so-called International Conference on Combating Antisemitism organized by the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs in Jerusalem last March (it is worth noting that the same minister, Amichai Chikli, has praised the recent British far-right demonstration in London). The conference brought together the most prominent forces of the Western far right — not only neofascist forces such as the French National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen, but also even more extreme tendencies such as that represented by Le Pen’s niece, who until last year co-led the Reconquête party of Éric Zemmour (who was invited to address the London far-right rally alongside Elon Musk, the most notorious neo-Nazi of our time).

The benefit Israel derives from this extreme right-wing international alliance is that these forces have become the most ardent defenders of the Zionist state in general and the Netanyahu government in particular. This was illustrated by their leaders, such as Britain’s Farage and France’s Le Pen, standing up to criticize liberal Western governments that have announced their intention to recognize the State of Palestine. This resembles Netanyahu’s recent reliance on the US far right, aligned with Donald Trump, to counter Joe Biden’s very timid attempts to moderate the Zionist regime’s expansionist ambitions and curb the genocidal war it is waging.