The current Israeli government is quick to brand anyone criticizing its policies as an “enemy of Israel.” “Friends of Israel” are only those who agree with the government; US President Barack Obama is not one of them.
A blatant example was the government’s reaction to the European Union decision of labeling exported goods produced in Israeli settlements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself criticized the EU for labeling Israeli goods instead of caring about Israelis being attacked by Arab terrorists. Likud Knesset backbenchers hinted at an analogy between the marking of Israeli products and the marking of Jews during the Holocaust. This is all part of the same mindset: “You are either with us, or anti-Semitic.” It dates back to the era of Golda Meir’s tenure as prime minister when she coined the phrase: “The whole world is against us”; a deeply-rooted ghetto mentality.
