“All countries need alliances; superpowers need alliances,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a May 14 event marking the first anniversary of the US Embassy's move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “Obviously a small country — small in territory, giant in spirit — a country like Israel needs alliances, too.” The prime minister then went on to list Israel’s inventory of allies, leading with the United States and President Donald Trump, “Israel’s best ever friend in the White House.” Netanyahu’s list also included the Arab world, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The “greatness of spirit” of little Israel, an occupying power, is obviously the basis for the alliance with the Egyptian champion of human rights, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, for whom Adolf Hitler was a source of inspiration. Chad’s President Idriss Deby and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, both well-known democrats, have also visited Jerusalem in recent months.
