After Bombing 6 Countries This Year, Netanyahu Pins Israeli Isolation on Muslims

In a rare admission on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is facing isolation on the world stage after nearly two years of its genocide in Gaza — but didn’t acknowledge his own government’s role in the situation.

At the “Fifty States — One Israel” economic conference hosted by Israel’s Finance Ministry, Netanyahu blamed foreign countries and Muslims for Israel’s isolation.

He blamed “unlimited immigration to Western European nations by Muslim minorities,” and repeated false, bigoted statements about Muslim populations replacing non-Muslims to become the “majority” in the region. Placing the blame of Israel’s isolation on the existence of Muslims is one of many blatantly Islamophobic statements made by Netanyahu and the state of Israel amid its genocide in Gaza.

Netanyahu also called out social media campaigns from foreign countries like China and Qatar that have supposedly polarized people against Israel.

“It changes Israel’s international situation; we’ll need to invest huge amounts in this,” he said of Israel’s social media campaigns. Israel has already invested many millions of dollars on wide-reaching social media campaigns to spread pro-Israel propaganda.

In attendance at the conference was the largest-ever delegation of U.S. lawmakers to visit Israel.

In his statements, Netanyahu ignores the litany of actions Israel has taken to isolate itself.

This year alone, Israel has bombed six countries: Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, and Yemen. Activists also suspect Israel of attacking boats off the coast of Malta and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Israel has carried out a genocide in Gaza, where global food insecurity authorities declared a “man-made” famine as a result of Israel’s near-total blockade last month. This is on top of Israel’s constant bombings, unrepentant massacres of children, and total destruction of life in Gaza; as well as Israel’s ongoing annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu said that, in order to combat isolation on the world stage, Israel will have to become more self-sufficient. He said that Israel is facing challenges due to European countries’ withholding of weapons to Israel — despite the fact that Israel is still receiving backing from some of its largest military backers worldwide, like Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.

“It’s a type of isolation. Can we get out of this isolation? Yes. I am a devotee of the free market, but we’ll have to have some signs of an autarky,” he said, referring to the concept of a self-sufficient economy.

“We’ll need to develop our weapons industry — we’re going to be Athens and super Sparta combined. We have no choice, at least for the coming years when we’ll be required to deal with these isolation attempts,” he went on.

Netanyahu’s comment perhaps ignores that Israel has received record amounts of military assistance amid its genocide. In the first year of Israel’s genocide alone, the U.S. sent a record $17.9 billion in military assistance, as well as a number of weapons transfers never disclosed by the government. The U.S. also approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel last year, including fighter jets, missiles, and tank ammunition.