An excerpt from American Thinker: Why Europe Abandoned Israel: Why is Israel viewed so differently in Europe than in the U.S.? Prior to the Six-Day War in 1967, it was France which was Israel's primary military supplier. In the War of Independence in 1948-49, it was arms smuggled from Czechoslovakia that enabled the Zionists to fight on. Most European nations, including some Soviet satellites, supported the partition resolution in the General Assembly in November 1947. European nations supported Israel at the UN through the late 1960s and in some cases well beyond then. Clearly, some of this support was a reflection of European guilt over the murder of six million Jews in their midst. Today, that residue of sympathy for the plucky underdog nation of Israel has disappeared.
Western Europeans want to believe that all international disputes can be resolved amicably, or as they call it, diplomatically, and multilaterally.
One explanation for this is that Europe is militarily and spiritually weak and willing to appease those who might threaten the European life style.
There are a number of factors that explain European behavior towards Israel. I have identified seven of them:
-- Europe's dependence on Middle East oil
-- Europe's rivalry with the US
-- The growing number of Muslims and their militancy
-- The small number of Jews, and their passivity
-- The role of elites in Europe's politics
-- Europe's long term disease of anti-Semitism, and
-- The decline of Christianity in Europe.
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