Martin Jay
Israel's Ben Gvir just told Argentina the Falklands are theirs - while Israel quietly co-invests in Falklands oil.
Andy Burnham's decision to supposedly sanction Israel's goods coming from the West Bank was not a surprise to anybody, given that he had let it be known he would do it soon after entering Downing Street. What was a surprise, though, was Israel's reaction. Obviously this dictatorship which pretends to be a democracy had to react in a manner whereby it would appear to be responding, even if the response was petulant - and so closing down the UK consulate and barring a posy of Labour MPs seemed to do the job. But in the same week of the news emerging, Israel went much further in demeaning relations with London by goading Argentina towards conflict with the UK over the Falkland Islands. It might seem odd to some, but Israel seems to operate in an irony-free zone - so Ben Gvir, a modern-day genocidal maniac who recently called for a minimum quota of 30 Palestinians to be slaughtered every day, and who we can safely claim has his hands more than drenched in the blood of the reported 70,000 dead Palestinians in a genocide which is still ongoing, recently had a rant on X pointing the finger at London, accusing the British of stealing oil from the Argentinians and "occupying the islands". Given Israel's expansion into Lebanon and its talks of "expansionism" into parts of Syria and Iraq, one would have thought the last people on the planet who would be in a position to accuse the British of imperialism would be far-right-wing Zionists.
"It's time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people. The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people," he writes.
"I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues."
Perhaps what makes the tweet even more absurd, though, is how Gvir fails to mention in his post that Israel is a joint investor with a UK company in oil exploration off the islands. Perhaps he is hoping that the British part of the venture will pack up and leave, giving the whole shop to the Israelis?
The goulash of hypocrisy is pretty breathtaking. But levity aside, there are bigger issues here at stake worth unpacking. Israel has excellent relations with both the Trump administration and that of Javier Milei, and so it can only profit by the shit-stirring while also sending a message to London that Bibi and his government of right-wing fanatics can still use their relationship with Washington to create trouble around the world - despite many analysts presenting the case that they have lost their mojo both in the region and in the U.S. If Bibi could actually stir up some kind of crisis with the Falklands and Argentina, it might be a way for Trump to appear to have some international credibility in the weeks running up to the midterm elections. It could be just the servile gift from the servant to his master - albeit it smacking of the servants finding the master's wife's diamond necklace in the flower beds - but Trump will take anything he can get to get a distraction away from Iran and perhaps even an oil deal. If the Americans can simply take Venezuela's oil from vaults in London, then perhaps the thinking is that Trump could simply acquire a slice of the British exploration deal as a payment towards pushing the UK PM to give away the Falklands. Trump is always looking for two things: international media coverage. And deals.
Of course, it remains to be seen how seriously Ben Gvir is taken. It also is worth noting that the whole so-called 'Falklands Crisis' is really just a ruse. Milei would not seriously consider a war with the UK, as he has made it clear that his objective is to make UK firms operating in the Falklands feel uncomfortable. Trump would benefit from a fabricated crisis just for the cameras, as indeed would Milei, while Israel could claim credit for stirring it up - although recent comments, oddly, by Milei suggest that he even wants the Israelis to leave the Falklands oil fields. The unexpected consequences of this game of bluff and double bluff is that Bibi might decide that he can only benefit by making a real enemy out of Andy Burnham and investing all his money and efforts in the inevitable right-wing coalition government which will take power in the UK in three years' time. Kemi Badenoch, who really couldn't be more of a Zionist if ever there was one, would be a good investment to run the country - as it has shocked even old-school Tories that she has come back from being an outsider to be the favourite for Downing Street. But how can any British government get into bed with Bibi and his fanatics when they want Britain to go to war with Argentina?