Creating ‘Islam in Europe’ as a threat is part of Israel’s new strategy

What does it mean when the most prominent platform for Israeli strategic thinking is discussing the issue of “Islam in Europe” as part of its list of “strategic threats”?

The events of this week’s 15th Herzliya Conference give us an impression of the trends dominating the thoughts of those drafting Israeli strategies. On Monday, the conference held a discussion titled “Islam and BDS in Europe: A Strategic Threat”. For Islam and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to be classified as a threat to Israel’s interests in Europe, it means that the nervous officials in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government believe that they have to launch a fierce campaign to incite people against this growing trend in global civil society. Observers are left to guess the form in which the new incitement campaigns will be launched against Islam in Europe. There has already been heavy defamatory propaganda by pro-Israel lobby groups for years against Muslims and pro-Palestinian activism.

Considering Islam in Europe as a strategic threat to Israeli interests, in the naïve manner witnessed in the Herzliya Conference programme, perhaps helps us to understand some of the political alignments occurring over the past five years. The far-right in Europe, its radical parties and populist leaders, have made a historical reconciliation with Israel. Israeli officials have welcomed numerous party leaders who are accused of being anti-Semitic. Some have even expressed their understanding of the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, while others even wore the Israeli army uniform when on the borders of the large prison called the Gaza Strip. As a result of this reconciliation, a mutual political discourse was formed which conveyed the message that Israel is defending Europe and Western civilisation against Islam.

We can assume, therefore, that certain Israeli trends have found an opportunity to emerge in light of the great fear in Europe over extremist groups, especially ISIS. These trends are now presenting themselves as allies of the West in this “clash of civilisations”. Of course, this is at the expense of the Palestinians’ inalienable rights.

There are important details to consider in this regard. For example, during Israel’s attack on Gaza last summer, its propaganda justified the heinous acts committed by the Israeli army against Palestinian civilians on the basis of fighting “radical Islam”. The Palestinians in the enclave and ISIS, which emerged from Iraq and Syria, were grouped together. On a number of occasions, Israeli diplomats distributed materials that were anti-Islam and anti-Muslim before withdrawing them hastily when challenged by protests in Ireland and Sweden, among others.

After the Charlie Hebdo incident in Paris, senior Israeli officials’ words matched those of the far right-wing in Europe. The Israeli government, which involved itself in the aftermath of the incident, gave the impression that it was seeking to incite Europe against its Muslim citizens by means of their statements and clear implications.

What needs to be said is that these “strategic” trends are not doing Europe any favours. Instead, they are counting on splitting the ranks within Europe’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities and spreading hatred therein. This has been adopted by Israel’s new allies on the far-right who are professionals at provoking panic in order to gain votes. Instead of classifying the Muslims in Europe as a strategic threat, the Israeli strategists and their friends around the world who attended the Herzliya Conference should have looked into the consequences of following such a radical right-wing ideology, as the Israeli government currently does, even when this contradicts the logic of history.

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