Does Israel face the “moment of South Africa” ​​over gas?

As the Gaza war believes, the Israel’s international isolation appears to be deepening.

Does this “South Africa’s moment” is approaching when the combination of political pressure, economic, sports and cultural boycott helped to make the praetory abandon the apartheid?

Can the right government of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are beneficial with the diplomatic storm, leaving Israel to pursue its goals in the gas and the occupied western shore without causing constant damage to its international position?

Two former Prime Ministers, Ehud Barack and Ehud Olmert, have already been accused of Netanyahu of turning Israel into an international paria.

Thanks to the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the number of countries in Netanyahu can travel without risking arrest, decreased sharply.

The UN, including Britain, France, Australia, Belgium and Canada, said they plan to recognize Palestine next week.

And the Persian Gulf countries, responding with furious on Last Tuesday Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in QatarThey met in Doha to discuss a single answer, some call on the countries that enjoy relations with Israel to think again.

But with the images of hunger arising from the gas over the summer, and the Israeli army is ready to break – and perhaps destroying – gas -sits, more and more European governments demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the ways that go beyond simple statements.

At the beginning of the month, Belgium announced a number of sanctions, including a ban on imports from illegal Jewish settlements on the Western Bank, a procurement policy review with Israeli companies and a restriction on the Consular Assistance to Belgians living in settlements.

He also announced two fertile Israeli government ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Benelle Smotrich, Person, not a grata, as well as Jewish settlers accused of violence against the Palestinians on the west shore.

Other countries, including Britain and France, have already taken similar steps. But the sanctions on violent settlers imposed by the Biden administration last year were lifted on the first day of Donald Trump to the White House.

A week after Belgium’s move, Spain announced its own measures, turning an existing actual embargo on legislation, announcing a partial ban on imports, banning entry into the Spanish language for those involved in genocide or war crimes into the gas, and forbidden to transfer weapons and planes. Air place.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, accused Spain of promoting anti -Semitic policy and suggested that Spain would suffer more than Israel from the arms ban.

But there are other disturbing signs for Israel.

In August, a huge sovereign well -being fund in Norway (1.7 ton euro; 1.6 tN) announced that it would start to get rid of companies listed in Israel. By mid -month, 23 companies were removed, and finance minister Jens Stoltenberg said it could happen more.

Meanwhile, the EU, the largest trading partner in Israel, plans to authorize the extreme right -wing ministers and partially suspend the trade elements of the Association Agreement with Israel.

In her speech in the Union on September 10, EU President Ursula von der Leyen said that the events in the newspaper “shaved the conscience of the world”.

A day later, 314 former European diplomats and officials wrote von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Kaj Kalas, calling for tougher measures, including the complete suspension of the Association Agreement.

One of the peculiarities of the sanctions that are aligned in South Africa from the 1960s to the end of apartheid – racial segregation and discrimination policy, which was performed by the White Minority Government in South Africa against the black majority of the country – in the 1990s there were a number of cultural and sports boycots.

Again there are signs of this, starting with Israel.

The Eurovision Song Contest may not give up a significant event in this context, but Israel has a long and glorious story with competition, winning it four times since 1973.

For Israel, participation symbolizes the adoption of the Jewish state among the family of nations.

But Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia said they were hinted They will refuse in 2026 when Israel is allowed to competeWith the decision that is expected in December.

In Hollywood, a letter calling for a boycott of Israeli production companies, festivals and broadcasters “concerning genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people” attracted more than 4,000 signatures a week, including the names of the households like Emo Stone and Jew.

Tzvika Gottlieb, CEO of the Israeli Producer Association of Films and TV channels, called the motion “deeply wrong”.

“Seeking with us – the creators who voice a variety of stories and bring up the dialogue – these signatories undermine their business and try to silence us,” he said.

Then there is a sport. Vuelt de Espoon’s bicycle race has repeatedly violated groups protesting against the presence of the Israeli-premium technical team, forcing a dirty, premature end on Saturday and canceling the podium ceremony.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called protests a source of “pride”, but opposition politicians said the government’s actions caused international embarrassment.

Also in Spain, seven Israeli chess players left the tournament after they said they would not be able to fight under their flag.

The Israeli government’s reaction to the fact that the media has already been called “diplomatic tsunami” usually calls for a challenge.

Netanyahu accused Spain of a “brazen genocidal threat” after his Prime Minister stated that his country, without grabbing nuclear bombs, planes or large oil reserves, could not stop Israel in Gaza.

After Belgium has announced its sanctions, Gideon Saar wrote on X that “it is a pity that even if Israel is fighting an existential threat that in Europe’s vital interests, there are those who cannot resist their anti -Israel obsession.”

But among those who represented Israel abroad are deep anxiety.

Jeremy Isocarof, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany from 2017 to 2021, told me that he could not remember that the international situation of Israel was so “disturbed”, but said that many steps were “regretted” because they were inevitably regarded as an orientation to all Israel.

“Instead of nominating a government policy, it alienates a lot of Israel in the middle.”

He said that some steps, such as Palestine’s recognition, are likely to be counter -productive because “gives ammunition to people like Smatrich and Ben Gwir, and even raises their argument on the app (West Bank).”

Despite his fears, the former ambassador does not believe that Israel’s diplomatic isolation is irreversible.

“We are not in South African moments, but we are in a possible preamble until the South African moment,” he said.

Others believe that a deeper change towards the status of the Paria is needed to stop the Israel slide.

“We have to return a place in the family of peoples,” another former diplomat Ilan Barukh told me.

“We have to go back to our feelings.”

Barukh, who was an ambassador to South Africa ten years after the end of the apartheid, resigned from the diplomatic service in 2011, saying that it was no longer able to defend Israel’s occupation. From his retirement he was a vocal critic of the government and a supporter of a two -state decision.

He believes that the latest sanctions are necessary, saying, “This is exactly how South Africa has been pushed to their knees.”

Barukh continued: “I would say that the persistent pressure on Israel in any way that Europeans consider them to be welcomed.”

According to him, this should include changes in visa modes and cultural boycotts, adding: “I’m ready for pain.”

But with all the statements of indignation and the talk about pressure, some veterans observers doubt Israel on the border of diplomatic abyss.

“Those who are ready to go down the Spanish route are still surviving,” Daniel Levy told me for a former Israeli peace talker.

He said that efforts to take collective actions within the EU – cutting off the elements of the association agreement or even, as suggested by some, freezing Israel from the EU Horizon Research and Innovation program – are unlikely to receive sufficient support, and Germany, Italy and Hungary among the members.

Israel also still has unwavering US support, and Secretary of State Mark Rubio said “Washington’s relations with Israel will remain strong” when he went on an official visit.

Levy is still believing that the international isolation of Israel is “irreversible”, but says that the constant support of the Trump administration means that it has not yet reached the point if it can change the course of the gas.

“Netanyahu runs out of the road,” Levi said. “But we have not yet hit the end of the road.”