Israel’s close alliance and increasing cooperation with far-right movements across the globe have been widely noted, with the two sides apparently united by a common enemy: namely, the so-called “extremists” who supposedly seek to impose their "backward ways" on the civilized world. Historically the chief purveyors of anti-Semitism, these same far-right forces are now propped up by those who never miss an opportunity to complain about its resurgence. The liberal critique of this strategy is naive at best, if not outright deceitful. It argues that the strategy will ultimately be harmful to Israel, because once these far-right forces take over and finally defeat the “extremists,” Jews themselves will become the next target.
Yet the evidence suggests that, actually, the strategy might work just fine, and that Israel could reap the rewards of its support for the far-right against what remains of the left. After the ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was kidnapped by the U.S. and replaced by his deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, the latter decided – or, more accurately, was instructed – to restore Venezuela’s diplomatic ties with Israel. Similarly, when former Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who had been extremely critical of Israel’s actions, was very narrowly defeated in the last election, which he claimed had been rigged against him, his right-wing successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, immediately recognized Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
