Thread by @sfrantzman

I don't buy any of the critiques of Israel relating to the Russia invasion of Ukraine when it comes often from former US policymakers...first of all because many of them don't critique the fact the US is still not being as tough on Russia as European states...

Literally they will slam Israel for not doing "something"...while they don't even ask what the US administration is doing. They want Israel to be tougher on Russia than the US...which is bizarre.

Second of all it's convenient that a huge war begins in Europe and the first thing some do is say "what about Israel"...you've got a whole world of countries...huge conflict in Ukraine and their focus is Israel...seems to be an agenda.

Third...they only ask about Israel (and sometimes the UAE)...they actually don't ask about Qatar which many of them like and ask if Qatar is making tough statements. So it's not really genuine. They just want to deflect about Israel.

It's also usually by voices who back the Iran Deal, meaning they want Israel to be involved in the Ukraine invasion by doing more...but when it comes to Israel's actual security next door...they don't say that they understand all of Israel's concerns.

There is also a lie built into this. The European countries that back Ukraine are being strong on Russia, closing airspace and offering defensive assistance. Ok, but the US isn't closing airspace or sending arms, and neither is Turkey, yet. So what do they want Israel to do?

Israel has put out statements critical of the conflict, Israel has had huge rallies backing Ukraine...Israel is helping with humanitarian issues at the border, and Israel could even mediate.

These voices are disingenuous because they don't even know what they want Israel to do

They claim Israel isn't being a good partner of the US for not doing more...but how can Israel do more on Russia...than the US is doing. What is the US doing? Is the US ejecting Russia from SWIFT, closing airspace, sending armaments? Israel can't do more than the US.

In general the agenda is primarily a scam. Israel isn't on the UN Security Council, so it can't even be critiqued for abstaining the way UAE did...so the critique is based on a lie. Many of these folk just want to single out Israel always.

Many of them made careers on always focusing on Israel. It's an obsession (and a good grift)...they always want Israel to be more and more of an "ally" if it doesn't do X, Y and Z...but they don't offer Israel a real alliance on the other end. They want a client state in Israel

Their agenda is to always claim Israel is at fault on every issue, to point out always Israel doesn't do enough on China, on Russia...on this and that and this and that...it's neverending. They don't even hold themselves to the same standards.

The hugely misleading take is that Israel has to play some role in the Ukraine conflict, and that if it doesn't somehow do more than the US and Europe...it isn't a good partner of the US. That's the basic message.

The fact is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine should have been prevented, tragically it was not and now Europe is standing up to Russia and the US is actually following Europe's lead. To shift focus to Israel is to distract and lie.

You can never trust a voice that is shouting "why isn't Israel (and the UAE) doing more on slamming Russia" which doesn't ask what Qatar or others are doing. Their obsession is an obsession and can't be taken seriously.

They say Israel is a close all of the US and should follow the US line...well Qatar is a major non-NATO ally of the US too...so by this logic Israel and Qatar should be following the US line...fine...and the US line currently is to be more timid on Russia than most of EU...so...

A lot of these voices worked for years to argue Israel isn't a helpful ally of the US...their agenda is not really about Ukraine (which they don't actually care about)...it's just about trying to find an Israel angle in every thing. It's bizarre and macabre.

If they cared about Ukraine, if that was really what it's about, they would have a policy agenda for the US on Ukraine and be asking other western partners in Asia, Africa and the MidEast to sign on...not just complain about Israel.