Netanyahu Thanks Slovenian PM for Defending Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly thanked former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša on Sunday after the European leader defended Israel and criticized his country's president for supporting the European Union's opposition to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). Writing on social media, Netanyahu expressed gratitude for what he called Janša's "courage and clarity in the face of European Union hypocrisy."

The Israeli leader pointed to what he described as a double standard, noting that while Turkey, a NATO member, occupies half of Cyprus, itself an EU member state, "the European Union remains silent. But when the Jewish people want to exercise their historic right to build and live in their homeland, the EU is outraged." Netanyahu added his appreciation for Janša's reminder that "Slovenia is a sovereign state and an equal member of the European Union," calling it "not a provocation, but a right that some want to strip away. Thank you, Janez, for your leadership and your worldview."

The dispute within Slovenia began last week when President Nataša Pirc Musar called for supporting the EU position against Israel. "International law is not a matter of political choice. It applies equally to everyone," she stated. "Therefore, Slovenia must support the clear European position regarding the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. There is no room for double standards."

In response, Janša countered that "to invoke international law while simultaneously talking about genocide in Gaza or in Judea and Samaria (called 'the West Bank'), something no competent body under international law has determined, is a political choice of a special kind." He emphasized that "Slovenia is a sovereign state and an equal member of the European Union, and without our consent there is no 'clear European position' that must be supported."