Neocons are relaunching in Europe as well as here (with the Emergency Committee for Israel). Pulse reports on a new group launching in Paris and London, called Friends of Israel Initiative, which says that it "aims to create a network linking private and public figures who agree with the idea of an Israel fully anchored in the West." The group is apparently led by Dore Gold, the former Israeli ambassador who is close to Netanyahu, and includes former U.S. ambassador John Bolton. And the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar.
Tom Mills reports:
Friends of Israel is quite open about its extremist agenda. Last month The Times – a News Corporation subsidiary – published an article by José María Aznar outlining his reasons for promoting the organisation. In the article Israel is portrayed not as a violent rogue state but as an outpost of Western civilisation and an indispensable strategic asset:
"Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down."
