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You know the weird or the thing to wrap our minds around this is that this is part and parcel of the political process of how this whole project is developing because if we look at the reaction from the European Union for instance or from the United States they wag their fingers against illegal settlements the evil settlers. They even put sanctions on illegal settlers but they never put sanctions on the state of Israel. Right.
It’s never it’s it’s it’s it allows for taking apart a thing that actually belongs together, right? And say like no, no, no, no. We uphold international law because we are very displeased with those illegal settlers, but the system that enables the settlements in the first place is left perfectly intact.
You’re you’re absolutely right. and uh and even the recent British initiative to apply sanctions again it’s a slap on the hand when it’s uh the Israeli Israeli settlements don’t produce that much produce for export and all that and even then there was a caveat for religious reasons again Israel has been the darling of the west of course and uh I think that there is a tremendous reluctance to apply sanctions.
Look, uh, compare the ease with which sanctions have been applied to Russia with the absence of sanctions from the European Union or from the United States uh, to Israel for something which appears to many people to be genocide. No one, you know, no one seriously talks about, you know, genocide in Ukraine, but uh in Israel, in Palestine, in Gaza, it’s quite clear. And yet, uh sanctions are not applied. But I think that um we live in different times when there is no shame, no embarrassment. It’s it’s open. It’s in your face. This double standard is in your face.
Israel in a way has been a leader in that. Uh it had enjoyed impunity and it really didn’t care and now many other countries don’t as well. Yeah. But you know if we compare this to 30 years ago uh dur the Oslo process and then the Oslo Accords and so on. I mean we find the same similar kind of duplicity but it was it was much better uh uh camouflaged in the language of humanitarianism in the language of we’re trying to achieve a two-state solution. Today Bengavier and Smrich and and even Netanyahu they have no qualms whatsoever to go on a podcast and say like no no never ever two-state solution we will do everything we can to expel them. I mean they they they openly talk about that that 30 years ago in my view was probably not possible. I mean what does this degradation of also the language and the bluntness with which the Zionist project is now being implemented tell us about you know where the Zionist project itself stands.
Well I think it tells us not so much not only about the Zionist project but about the western world. Yeah. Uh the Zionist project has been pretty open about what it wanted. It it did have wonderful diplomats like Aba Iban who knew how to present the case and who was very eloquent and so on. Today people say they don’t really care about presenting the case because they lost it in public opinion but they don’t care about they do care about public opinion but they have a control of the government. I think that’s very important that support for Israel in a way uh is expressed by the ruling classes and I don’t mean only the political ruling class the economic ruling class. Israel is a very important country, not only because it’s an outpost of the West in in West Asia, but also because it is an example of how you deal with dissident, how you deal with opponents. And what you see today in Britain, in France, in the United States, opinions are being qualified as terrorism. Yeah.
But this is new. This is new. And uh Israel has been a leader. And also another very important use of Israel by western elites or ruling classes. I don’t like the word elites but since everyone uses it I sometimes slips into my vocabulary. Uh uh Israel is a very useful supplier of technology knowhow surveillance and control of population. They have had tremendous experience with Palestinians and they export this knowhow tested on Palestinians to many countries uh including Canada where I’m speaking from. Uh so that’s why the governments usually are very supportive of Israel. they have to pay lip service like this recent sanctions on uh that will be may be applied to West Bank. Uh but by and large I think that someone like Chancellor Mertz he blurted out when Israel attacked uh Iran they’re doing dirty work for us and that’s the feeling many people in in the ruling classes have. Israel does dirty work for us. Well, and then the United States joined that uh a year later or not half a year later. Uh so we have to see Israel not as an isolated case, not as something that stands out but something that leads the way of the Western world.
Yes, it does. I I completely agree. I mean, in in an essay that I recently wrote, I made the argument that we should rather think of Israel as an integrated part of the body politic of the West that just then allows, you know, you throw the ball back and forth. There’s things that Israel can do that the United States internally couldn’t do. There’s things that the settus can do that the Israeli government can do, can cannot do. Um but overall they work they work together as part and parcel of something that still for any intended purposes is a colonial project of of expansion of expansion of a system into the lands of another people that is now um ground to a uh grind down and you we we when you look also at the warfare of Israel it’s at war with all of the surrounding countries. It’s occupying Syria. It occupies Lebanon. it I mean it fights on so many fronts and it has a war with Iran. This is like an an the an integral part of an entire uh warfare approach. And if you look at the Europeans they support that. Maybe they put sanctions on settlers but that allows them not to put sanctions on on the government that still allows them to say like overall Israel is a democracy and we as a value community we stand together. We protect against terrorism. Terrorism is applied against the Arabs. never never ever um as a term against the the actions of the Israeli government. I mean it just seems so all connected to each other.
Yes, they are connected and I’m glad that we’re discussing Israel in the context of the political west uh because it is part of the political west. It’s a bit it’s more outspoken. It’s more in your face. But again, it provides the example definitely for the right wing and extreme rightwing in Europe and elsewhere, but also to the people in power today in who are not extreme right and who uh really learn from Israel. You have to realize that the Zionist network has been extremely effective not only in terms of public opinion, not in terms of purchasing CBS and CNN and Tik Tok to control the discourse uh but also in infiltrating into police forces. No, municipal police forces. They take policemen from somewhere in Midwest for a trip to Israel to learn techniques and know how from Israeli police. Uh, and we’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of subsidized finance strips. So the the the commitment of the Zionist lobby is extremely strong and uh uh you know in a way uh they put uh the money where the word is. So yeah.
Yeah. And and and it works. That’s the point. It’s an it’s an it’s an integrated system that actually then on the other end produces the realization of the Zionist project which is a relatively recent project right about I mean in its current form.
Yeah. And I think also it’s important to understand that the size of lobby is so important and so powerful uh because you have a soccer field and there’s only one team on the on the field. We don’t have a Palestinian lobby. they don’t have a pro Palestinian lobby. So in a way it’s uh it’s not surprising that they’re winning. They’re winning for the ruling class. They are not winning in public opinion. But uh again we we can talk about democracy in the political west. How is it that many of the policists pursued nowadays are not supported by the population such as militarization and dismantlement of the welfare state.
Yep. They they they go together. But I again maybe just to come back what this change tells us because I don’t know whether or not you saw this but what’s happening in uh Thailand at the moment. This is a very interesting case where uh Israeli tourists and long-term residents managed to um get so much attention on their behavior which has little or nothing to do with the Palestine issue, little or nothing with the the settlement of the of Palestine, but everything with the with the way that that now little mini colonies are forming on a couple of islands in in Thailand and that now that there’s an indigenous Thai opposition to that form not of colonialism but of of misbehavior and of abuse of the Thai um legal system because they managed to create like vehicles that would allow them to control majority stakes in uh in in land in property and so on which is supposed to to belong to ties 51% there’s a law about that and that created now an entire backlash although the Thai population used to be quite supportive of Israel especially after uh octo October 7th um whether I just wonder if the the way in which um the Israeli system is also like shaping minds at the moment whether that now is creating a a its own backlash in the in the wider world or maybe I’m over interpreting.
No, you’re not over interpreting. But let me give a a two-part answer. You’ve used the word colonial in a porative sense twice. Yes. It’s no longer working. Read Marco Rubio’s speech in Munich. He called on Western countries to be proud of their colonial past and colonial herit inheritance and so on. And this is the world we live in. Yes, in the past colonial was a bad word. I don’t think it is anymore in political west. Uh so we have to realize that by even you know if you call it a park height say Israel say well so so what uh it’s not an it’s not a matter of being shamed you cannot shame someone who is proud of what he’s doing so that’s what about colonialism so colonialis like colonialism you know I’ve written a lot about it and given interviews but you have to realize that this whole colonial enterprise of the 500 years of the west has been is being rehabilitated and in front of our eyes and it’s a very important
QUESTIONS:
Is Israel’s approach to dealing with dissent — calling critics “Anti-Semites” / “Terrorists” — being adopted by other countries
Who are the politicians who act without shame?
What is the best approach for dealing with shameless oponents?
What are examples of politicians disowning things at the individual level (settlers) while maintaining the larger system?
How many local police forces in your region have been directly or indirectly trained by Israel?
Gemini Summary
This episode of Neutrality Studies features host Pascal Lottaz interviewing emeritus professor Yakov Rabkin (University of Montreal) regarding the detention of academic Artyom Kirpichenok in Israel, followed by a broader critique of the Israeli justice system, Western foreign policy double standards, and Israeli political culture.
1. Detention of Artyom Kirpichenok
Background: Kirpichenok is a 51-year-old Middle East specialist based in St. Petersburg and a dual Russian-Israeli citizen who previously studied and served in the military in Israel.
Arrest: Upon arriving in Israel on August 2, he was detained immediately.
Legal Conditions: He was held for 20 days before being allowed to see a lawyer. Official details remain minimal due to secret security trial protocols, though his lawyer indicated he faces espionage charges—allegations Rabkin dismisses as illogical given Kirpichenok’s residence outside Israel and public critical writing.
2. Security Courts and Israel’s Legal System
Two-Tiered Justice: Rabkin argues that Israel’s judicial system is ideologically aligned with Zionism and applies distinct standards to security cases versus standard civil matters.
Palestinian Imprisonment Statistics: Over 1 million Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israel since 1967, with military court conviction rates exceeding 99%.
Dual Law in the West Bank: Israeli settlers are governed by civil law, while neighboring Palestinians are subject to military tribunals. Rabkin compares this ideological alignment within the judiciary to historic authoritarian regimes.
3. Western Double Standards & Geopolitical Role
Selective Sanctions: Rabkin criticizes Western governments (US, UK, EU) for applying minor sanctions on individual settlers while leaving the state structures supporting settlements intact. He contrasts the rapid imposition of Western sanctions on Russia with the lack of structural sanctions on Israel over its military operations in Gaza.
State Utility: Western elites tolerate Israel’s actions because Israel serves as an outpost in West Asia, testing ground, and exporter of population control, surveillance technology, and law enforcement training used by Western police forces.
4. Colonial Ideology and the “New Hebrew” (Muscular Jew)
Rehabilitation of Colonialism: Rabkin notes a shift in Western political discourse where colonial inheritance is increasingly defended rather than criticized.
Socialization: Israeli education emphasizes physical assertiveness and uncompromising strength (the concept of the “muscular Jew”), framing consideration as weakness. Rabkin links this systemic socialization to disruptive behavior by Israeli nationals abroad, citing examples in Amsterdam and Thailand driven by a culture of state-backed impunity.