June 04, 2018

Bibi Comes to London

Prime Minister Netanyahu comes to London this Thursday after visiting Berlin and Paris.
He has doubtless been pressing the case against Iran and its entrenchment in Syria, its control of Lebanon and its proxy wars from Gaza to Yemen. That such evil hegemony may one day be protected by nuclear weapons is a horrendous prospect.
In backing the Iran deal, Germany, France and Britain couldn’t wait to get their hands on some of Obama’s $150 billion golden handshake with the ayatollahs. But it’s not clear this has actually translated into the export deals they salivated over. Long before sanctions were lifted, French and German banks had already been stung by billion-dollar fines. They will be unwise to mess with the Trump administration which now seems quite capable of shutting down their Wall Street operations for financing deals with Tehran.
So, this time Netanyahu comes to London with a lot more spring in his step; almost arriving as teacher’s pet. President Trump and his closest advisors John Bolton and Mike Pompeo appear to be in lockstep with Netanyahu on Iran, Syria, the issue of border walls and the general threat of radical Islamic terrorism. 
They may expect Netanyahu to try and prise the Brexiting Brits away from the Franco-German lust for trade with the ayatollahs, and to show Theresa May how much more she stands to gain by getting on board the Trump train. Once unshackled from the EU, Britain will need the trust and trade of America as never before. After 500 days of Trump, America is booming. Employment numbers are totally off the charts, major overseas manufacturers are galloping back home to the USA and Trump’s 700-billion-dollar rebuild of the military must create enormous trade opportunities for support and service industries.
Of course we can pretty much predict the statement that the UK Foreign Office will draft for Theresa May to deliver outside Downing Street. Unshakeable support for Israel’s security, condemnation of Assad and abhorrence of his chemical weapons but, above all, concern for the poor Palestinians - the human rights lecture that's never mentioned on Saudi or Turkish visits.
And of course, not forgetting Britain’s total commitment to that white winged unicorn, now on life support: the Two State Solution.
But, behind the scenes, it may well be a very cordial meeting between two leaders who know perfectly well the nature of pure evil and its home address. 
I certainly hope so.
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