When did being pro-Israel shift from being a left-wing to right-wing position?

[phk]

I would say 2002 or so.

[Mechaman]

I wasn't aware it was on any "wing".
I thought there was just those who were adamantly pro-Israel, those who were adamantly pro-Palestine, and then there is the huge middle ground of people who are like "meh, whatever".

[Dgov]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?  European left-of-center parties generally don't support Israel, and the only reason the Democrats due is because they were the party of the Jews before Israel existed.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's not automatically either. But as far as the unthinking and modish (of both right and left) are concerned, I suspect that you're looking at the 1977 election (which marked the end of Israel's time of being primarily a socialist state) and the invasion of Lebanon a few years later. Maybe the Yom Kippur war had some kind of impact as well, I don't know.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Obviously, it started when the parties traded places on foreign policy. I'd say the 60s, as that's when many Democratic hawks switched to the Republican party.

[Dgov]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

Okay, speaking as someone not well versed in European Foreign policy, enlighten me.  It just doesn't seem like the Left has ever really had a legitimate reason to support Israel.

[King]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

Okay, speaking as someone not well versed in European Foreign policy, enlighten me.  It just doesn't seem like the Left has ever really had a legitimate reason to support Israel.

What does this have to do with European Foreign Policy?

[Dgov]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

Okay, speaking as someone not well versed in European Foreign policy, enlighten me.  It just doesn't seem like the Left has ever really had a legitimate reason to support Israel.

What does this have to do with European Foreign Policy?

I assume Israel is considered a foreign country to most Europeans, and the US has basically always supported Israel.

or am I missing something here?

[King]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

Okay, speaking as someone not well versed in European Foreign policy, enlighten me.  It just doesn't seem like the Left has ever really had a legitimate reason to support Israel.

What does this have to do with European Foreign Policy?

I assume Israel is considered a foreign country to most Europeans, and the US has basically always supported Israel.

or am I missing something here?

Okay, but why did you bring it up?

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Not fully true. There's plenty of Republican doves like myself that support Israel.

[Free Palestine]

Judging by how Congress always near-unanimously kisses Israel's ass, I'd say it isn't solely a right-wing thing.

[Dgov]

Okay, but why did you bring it up?

I assume support of Israel has never been a progressive cause in the US (Democrats support it for other reasons), so i was wondering if the Europeans Left parties were initially pro-Israel while the Right parties were not.

[courts]

Obviously, it started when the parties traded places on foreign policy.

lol

[Filuwaúrdjan]

When was supporting Israel ever a Left-Wing Position?

Are you for real?

Okay, speaking as someone not well versed in European Foreign policy, enlighten me.  It just doesn't seem like the Left has ever really had a legitimate reason to support Israel.

Israel was viewed for decades as a progressive state fighting its own corner in a part of the world dominated by nasty dictatorships and as much of an example of democratic socialism in action as Sweden. To use an example from Britain, even most of the people on the Left who were opposed to the Suez invasion were broadly sympathetic towards Israel's actions during the crisis. Going back a little further, one of the main complaints the Labour Left had against Ernest Bevin was that he was hostile to Zionism.

[phk]

Obviously, it started when the parties traded places on foreign policy.

lol

[tpfkaw]

Obviously, it started when the parties traded places on foreign policy.

lol

[they don't love you like i love you]

I don't know which is more amusing, Dgov's complete lack of knowledge of history, or this:

I assume Israel is considered a foreign country to most Europeans

Well yes. Considering that Israel is a foreign country to the vast majority of Europeans, as it's not part of Europe and the only people for whom it would not be are those with dual citizenship or Israel citizens as residents in Europe this would make sense.

And seriously dude read some history. Could start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Crisis

[Gustaf]

It is fair to point out that the right (excepting the Nazis) was broadly pro-Israel as well (although generally perhaps less so than the left) so it was hardly a dividing left-right issue back then. It isn't entirely now either, but it's more so now, I'd say.

[useful idiot]

What are the range of views of the European far-right on the issue? It would seem that anti-Islamism would cause kneejerk support for Israel, but it would appear that other parties harbor anti-semitic elements as well. I'm guessing that the Dutch far-right (Fortuyn before he died, Wilders) is probably more pro-Israel than, say, the FN in France.

[Gustaf]

What are the range of views of the European far-right on the issue? It would seem that anti-Islamism would cause kneejerk support for Israel, but it would appear that other parties harbor anti-semitic elements as well. I'm guessing that the Dutch far-right (Fortuyn before he died, Wilders) is probably more pro-Israel than, say, the FN in France.

I think that the more far-right the far-right is, the more it tends to be anti-Israel. For example, the National Democrats in Sweden are very anti-Israel and anti-US. The Sweden Democrats, on the other hand are quite favourable to Israel.

(for those who don't know, the Sweden Democrats are the xenophobic party in parliament while the National Democrats are the splinter group who broke out because the Sweden Democrats sold out their core values of preserving Sweden Swedish, etc).

Basically, the modern far-right movement which is essentially just anti-Islam tends to be more pro-Israel. The more old-fashioned far-right movement is still Nazis and thus hate the Jews.

[minionofmidas]

Well, the shift still isn't complete, of course, and won't be without further change to the issue itself.
But if you want to put a single date on it, after 1948 but before the Suez Crisis.

[Gustaf]

Well, the shift still isn't complete, of course, and won't be without further change to the issue itself.
But if you want to put a single date on it, after 1948 but before the Suez Crisis.

That doesn't really sound like a single date to me...

[minionofmidas]

Well yeah, but the in-between change would have been quite gradual.

[minionofmidas]

The NPD is in real battles over the issue, but the anti-islamists are winning them. Theirs is the position that wins votes, after all.