European leaders who have recently criticized Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza have succumbed to political pressure fueled by a nefarious international media campaign against the Jewish state, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said on Tuesday.
The unequivocal remarks by Israel’s second-highest diplomat come amid some of the harshest criticism leveled against Israel by British, German, French and Canadian leaders since the war began nearly 20 months ago, following the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.
“What we are seeing is the capitulation of several European leaders to a very loud political campaign in countries with a massive immigrant influx from many Muslim countries, together with an immense propaganda campaign waged against Israel on international TV networks,” Haskel told JNS ahead of a series of meetings in Europe this week.
“The world loves dead Jews, and one day after they turn their backs on us,” she said, referring to the day after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Haskel noted that international protests against Israel began the day after the massacre and weeks before the Israeli military launched its ground operation in Gaza.
“If I need to choose between the life of my children and the sympathy of the Europeans, the choice is clear since we know what Hamas would do to us again if they could,” she said.
Although criticism of Israel’s handling of the war has intensified over the past week, including threats of sanctions from some European leaders, Haskel argued that the Jewish state has weathered harsher diplomatic fallout in previous conflicts.
“Unfortunately, Israel being bashed in the international community is a norm,” she said as she prepared to fly to the Czech Republic, one of Israel’s staunchest allies in Europe. Haskel is scheduled to address a Jerusalem Day event in the Czech Parliament on Wednesday and to hold meetings with European diplomats as part of the Transatlantic Defense Forum.
Addressing the influence of the media, Haskel singled out the BBC, which she accused of a long-standing bias against Israel, noting the broadcaster has issued dozens of corrections related to its coverage of the war.
“These are people with a political agenda, whose apologies have a minimalistic effect because the image they set out to create is already in place,” she said.
The deputy foreign minister stressed the precariousness of the situation for world Jewry, citing the lone gunman shooting deaths of two Israeli embassy personnel last week in Washington, D.C.
“We are seeing the persecution and racism against Jews around the globe in ways we have never seen before since the Holocaust,” Haskel said. “It always starts with the Jews, and then it comes for the rest of humanity.”
