Netanyahu says Israel 'in isolation', blaming Qatar, China and Muslims in the West

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has said Israel faces “isolation” on the global stage, blaming it on immigration of Muslims to the West and purported media operations by China and Qatar. 

“Israel is in a sort of isolation,” Netanyahu said during a finance ministry conference in Jerusalem on Monday. 

“We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics,” he said, referring to economic self-sufficiency. 

“I am a believer in the free market, but we may find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked. We will need to develop arms industries here - not only research and development, but also the ability to produce what we need.”

The comments come after Israeli genocide in Gaza has prompted several European countries to call for arms embargoes and economic sanctions against Israel. 

The rare acknowledgement of growing isolation was attributed by the prime minister to “unlimited immigration to Western European nations by Muslim minorities”. 

“They aren't the majority yet, but a significant, very vocal and combative minority that bends governments. These things affect leaders,” he said. 

The idea of Muslim minorities bending European governments is not backed up by evidence. Polling earlier this year showed that public support for Israel in European countries had reached its lowest recorded level, with the majority of respondents not sympathetic of Israel.

Netanyahu also attributed isolation to alleged efforts by countries “like Qatar and China” to “influence western media with anti-Israel agenda, using bots, artificial intelligence and advertisement”. He cited TikTok as an example. 

"This leads to sanctions against Israel and alters Israel's international standing... and this leads to a kind of isolation for Israel," Netanyahu said. 

"We can break out of this isolation, but we must invest heavily in countermeasures - particularly in media and social media influence operations."

Weapons industries

As a result of the isolation, the prime minister said Israel needed to reduce its dependency on trade with other countries. 

“We might find ourselves blocked not only in R&D [research and development] but also in actual industrial production. We must start developing our capabilities to rely more on ourselves," he said, adding that this would include arms and defence products. 

“We'll need to develop weapons industries here. We're going to be Athens and super Sparta. Over the next few years, we'll have no other choice. We'll have to defend ourselves and know how to attack our enemies,” he added, in an apparent reference to the ancient Greek city states' wars with Persia.

He said his government would increase investment in weapons production “so as not to be dependent on weak Western European leaders who give in to the extreme Muslim minorities in their countries”. 

Several countries have imposed partial or full arms embargoes on Israel, including Britain, Italy, Spain, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

On Monday, a prestigious British defence academy banned Israeli students due to the war on Gaza. The defence ministry confirmed that London's Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) will not enrol students from Israel from next year.

'An autarkic market will be a disaster for Israel’s economy and will influence every citizen’s quality of life'

- Yair Lapid, Israeli opposition leader

The UK government also banned Israeli officials from Britain's largest arms trade show last week.

Meanwhile, Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, on Monday called for Israel to be banned from all global sports competitions as long as its "barbarism" in Gaza continued. 

His comments came after AFP reported that the Spanish government had cancelled a contract worth nearly €700m for Israeli-designed rocket launchers. 

Netanyahu's talk of isolation drew condemnation from critics within Israel. 

Yair Lapid, the opposition leader, said: “Isolation is not fate. It’s a product of a wrong-headed and failed policy by Netanyahu and his government, who have turned Israel into a third-world country, and aren’t even trying to change the situation.”

Lapid has supported Israel's genocide in Gaza, and frequently spoken out against those critical of Israeli actions in the enclave. 

Ron Tomer, the head of Israel's manufacturers' association, said that the Israeli brand of "creativity, demand, and success has been seriously harmed in the world". 

"Israeli industry will ensure that we are never lacking - not in security, not in food, and not in anything vital to the Israeli economy," he stated. "That being said, an autarkic market will be a disaster for Israel’s economy and will influence every citizen’s quality of life."