Argie bargie, with a kosher assist ...
The trouble with Israel’s Argentina taunts
Israel armed Argentina during the Falklands. That is a fact. Between the 2 April and 14 June 1982, Israel sold Argentina air-to-air missiles, anti-personnel mines, anti-tank weapons, replacement parts for jets, radar and communications equipment and fuel. Nesher fighter jets, supplied by Israel, were part of the air attack that destroyed the RFA Sir Galahad in Bluff Cove. Fifty-six British sailors and soldiers died in that raid.
So when Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar taunted England for our 2-1 World Cup defeat, that was a continuation of traditional Israeli foreign policy. ‘How does the song go?’ Sa’ar posted. ‘It’s coming home. Yes it is. It’s coming home to Argentina. Vamos Argentina!’ On the pitch, Argentine footballers unfurled a flag that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’.
Defenders of Israel claim we somehow deserve their ire. Stephen Daisley
argues on Coffee House that Britain has antagonised Israel in recent years by not being sufficiently supportive following 7 October. ‘After constant provocation, it was inevitable that Israel would lose its patience with Britain,’ he writes. We have apparently ‘got off pretty lightly’ in their support for Argentina in the World Cup.
I don’t care all that much about football, so Israel’s support for Messi & Co doesn’t really matter to me. But I do care about those who fight for our country. And that phrase ‘got off pretty lightly’ rankles. Israeli support for Argentina is not simply a story of jovial football rivalry.
During the Falklands invasion, Israel supplied larger fuel tanks so bombers and fighters could more easily reach British territory. This wasn’t just completion of contracts signed before the invasion – and in any case, these contracts could have been suspended, which both France and West Germany did the moment the invasion began. Israel, meanwhile,
funnelled further arms to Argentina via Peru, in order to avoid detection by the United States, Europe and Britain, which had all sanctioned the Junta. Israel profited from the attempted annexation of British territory by a dictatorial regime.
Whatever the realities of recognition, there is clearly a difference between accepting territorial changes after the fact and arming the Argentinian Junta as they attempted to kill British soldiers. Israel could have taken a position of neutrality in the unprovoked invasion, but they chose to side with our enemies.
Perhaps you think this is all rather silly blather about a football match. But how our supposed allies behave matters. Israel’s continued support for Argentina is a threat to Falklanders, those British citizens who live with the prospect of aggression every day. Israelis know better than most how that feels.
Israel's continued support for Argentina is a threat to Falklanders, those British citizens who live with the prospect of aggression every day.
spectator.com
