Israel’s Netanyahu extends hand of friendship to fascistic Philippines President Duterte
By
Jean Shaoul
10 September 2018
The fascistic president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has completed a four-day visit to Israel, the first-ever visit to the country by a Philippine head of state.
Duterte met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as President Reuven Rivlin and officials from Israel’s military and intelligence agencies. Among his entourage were 46 senior politicians, officials and military and security personnel, as well as a 150-strong delegation of business leaders.
The butcher Netanyahu is a fitting host to Duterte, who took office in 2016. “We remember our friends and that friendship has blossomed over the years and especially over the last few years,” Netanyahu said.
With Duterte’s visit, Netanyahu has added yet another far-right figure to Israel’s stable of allies.
The Philippine president’s visit follows visits by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, not to mention the coterie of far-right figures who attended the opening ceremony of the US embassy in Jerusalem earlier this year.
Duterte began his visit with an address to an audience of Filipinos in Jerusalem, where he defended his earlier remark, “If there are many beautiful women, there will be many rape cases as well,” as an exercise in “democracy and freedom of expression.”
Speaking last Monday after his meeting with Netanyahu, Duterte said, “May we continue to be blessed with a strong relationship,” adding cynically, “We share the same passion for peace. We share the same passion for human beings.” Then came a pledge of support for Israel’s repression of the Palestinians and its recent military threats against Syria, Iran and…