I wrote of this 5 years ago and updating this important article on Israel as this is in the news again.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that more and more Western European nations are doing all in their power to turn away from supporting Israel – industrially, economically, politically - whereas Eastern Europe is just the opposite.
This has become quite a subject of discussion as Israel provides 80% of Europe's oranges and its 'market garden' industry through the Kibbutz manifestations of green grocer production is astonishingly 'way up there'.
The increasing wealth of Israel through its high tech industries, medical science discoveries, its manufacturing inventions, its green energy supply, food security and export produce let alone its military might has created something of an anomaly for Western Europe to even begin to grasp.
But Eastern European nations have opened their arms to the remarkably open-hearted Israelis and it has not gone un-noticed.
Several Eastern European countries, says Judith Bergman, while having pasts rife with virulent anti-Semitism and atrocious records of behaviour toward Jews during the Second World War, differ greatly in their policies toward Israel compared to their Western European counterparts.
In December, Czech lawmakers passed 'resolutions' criticising the decision by the European Union to label Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights, and urged the Czech government not to abide by it.
Characteristically, all Czech political parties supported the resolutions, even those on the Left, save for the Communists, who in keeping with their Soviet legacy, claimed that the Czech Republic was too complacent towards Israel. In a country like the Czech Republic, which paid a high price for the experiments of Communism for over 50 years, such slogans make a negligible impression.
Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman also praised the resolution, saying that the vote "aligned the Czech Republic with democratic countries that fully respect human rights and reject any form of discrimination." Close your eyes and picture any Western European politician uttering those words. Perhaps Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom? No, it is impossible even to imagine such a thing.
The Czech Republic's friendship with Israel extends back to the 1948 war, when the Czechs sold weapons to the fledgling Jewish state when very few others, wanted to do so.
It would be sobering to remember at this point that the United States at that time enforced a weapons embargo on the entire region, whereas the British were in fact supplying both weapons and leadership to Arab militaries out to extinguish the Jewish state. During Soviet occupation, this friendship naturally went into a half-century long hiatus, but was rekindled after the end of the Cold War.
Most recently, the Slovak and Lithuanian parliaments have decided to form pro-Israeli caucuses, a result of an initiative from the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, the World Jewish Congress and the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
"As Western European countries continue to turn their backs on the Jewish state, we see that Eastern European countries are more supportive than ever of the only democracy in the Middle East — Israel," Knesset Christian Allies Caucus director Josh Reinstein said.
Judith Bergman continued: Dismissing Europe entirely as a place where support for Israel can be found is a fallacy, even if it is admittedly one that is easy to make in the current circumstances. There are friends of Israel in Eastern and Central Europe, even if their membership of the European Union frequently renders their scope of action limited.
This is very important to keep in mind. Too many observers in Israel and elsewhere forget that Europe consists of more than just Western Europe.
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children
