Zionism has ‘failed’ and Israel is in ‘big trouble’, says prominent lobbyist

As the Tel Aviv regime grapples with a heightened sense of insecurity due to the Palestinians’ spirited resistance, a prominent lobbyist acknowledges that Zionism may have “failed” and that the Israeli regime is in “far bigger trouble than anyone understands.”

Michael Koplow, the chief policy officer at New York-based Israel Policy Forum, made the remarks in an article on a bill banning the raising of Palestinian flags, although the pro-Israel lobby group claims it is dedicated to preserving Israel’s future as a Jewish state.

“If waving a flag threatens Israel’s existence, then not only is Israel in far bigger trouble than anyone understands, but Zionism itself has failed,” said Koplow.

“Protesters waving Palestinian flags and mourners displaying them at funerals does not threaten Israel’s … security in any tangible way, and to think otherwise betrays a deep and unwarranted sense of insecurity about Israel’s durability and legitimacy,” he added.

His comments come as the image of Israel as a vital US ally facing “an existential threat” is beginning to “shatter not least because of the consensus amongst major human rights groups that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid.”

The pro-Israel lobbyist himself slammed the double standard applied by the Israeli regime, which approved the so-called Flag March while considering raising Palestinian flags as incitement.

“There was a particular irony at work this week with Israeli arguments that marching through the Old City with Israeli flags is nothing but a demonstration of legitimate Israeli pride and should not be construed in any way as incitement or threatening toward Palestinians, while at the same time insisting on multiple fronts that Palestinian flags are inherently illegitimate and should be construed as incitement and threats toward Israelis.”

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The so-called Flag March, a yearly event, features extremist settlers marching through the heart of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in East al-Quds’ Old City and waving Israeli flags and chanting provocative slogans.

It commemorates the Israeli regime’s 1967 occupation of East al-Quds, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state. The parade is associated with violence against Palestinians and the “display of incitement, Jewish dominance, and racism,” according to Israeli NGO Ir Amim.

This year’s march was reportedly partaken by around 25,000 settlers, who were being accompanied and protected by Israeli forces.

Koplow argued that Israel should have been “less sensitive” to the display of Palestinian flags, given the “structural imbalance” between Palestine and Israel, which, he said, has “the most powerful military in the Middle East.”

“The fact of Israel’s existence and Israel’s strength—not only relative to the Palestinians but in absolute terms—has not appreciably lessened Israelis’ insecurities, and Palestinian flags are still treated in many instances as physical threats that somehow have the ability to snuff out Zionism or Israel’s existence.”

The Middle East Monitor, however, noted that Koplow failed to mention that the Israeli bill is “part of an ongoing attempt to criminalize expressions of Palestinian nationhood and symbols of their identity.”

On Friday, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett also acknowledged that the Tel Aviv regime is on the brink of collapse, as it is “facing a real test.”

'Israel’s calculations entirely wrong'

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said via Twitter that the Israeli acknowledgment of an imminent collapse of the Israeli regime proves that the resistance has been moving in the “right direction.”

The senior official added that the Israelis’ “calculations have been wrong” since the formation of the regime.

Referring to Israel’s threats against Iran, he noted that they have only been out of fear of the axis of resistance.

“Since the world was infected with Zionism virus, until today when threatening #Iran because of the fear of resistance, their calculations have been wrong,” he wrote.

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