Now isn't the time to choose a favourite baddie

Donald Trump and Benyamin Netanyahu (Image: Financial Times)

I have been rather reflective of late. The global news agenda is dominated by powerful people doing unimaginably awful things, or at least capable of doing so - and they are seemingly given a free pass, having their evil justified, trying to find a reason why their actions aren't that bad compared to the 'other side'. And this is driving me absolutely mad. The less I hear from Benyamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and others, the better this world will be.

Here we have, at least three cunning maniacs, at it for their personal gain to dominate countries, nationalities and ideologies. Farage has no power, but he is being tipped to be the next UK Prime Minister, for no good reason at all. He gets a few votes from those bored of a Labour government, and critics start getting giddy. Trump thinks of himself as a puppet master, and through his crippling tariffs and mafia-like tactics, is sending his country and the rest of the world on their knees. He even organised himself his own Trooping the Colours as if he's a British monarch, or Putin or Kim Jong Un, you decide. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is plotting Middle East domination - firing shots with his eyes shut, not giving a care in the world where they land. If he enters one of the 125 countries who are members of the International Criminal Court, he'd be arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes.

I list these three people above all else because I suggest these receive a 'free pass' from influential media titles and political figures with an ounce of common sense. They are totally frightened of standing their ground and calling out the wrong. These titles and politicians do terrifically in talking about the evils of regimes in Russia, Iran and North Korea, and justifiably too. They are barbaric - more to their own people - and their agendas are reportedly 'crystal clear', or at least portrayed as such, in black and white. Russia is throwing all its resources in bringing back the Soviet Union, by attacking Ukraine and, if this goal is succeeded, goodness knows which former member is next. In Iran, hundreds every year are executed for daring to disagree with a leadership that funds terrorist groups who have gained power in politically vulnerable nations. And no North Korean can freely leave the country and the leader treats nuclear missile tests like a GCSE Chemistry mock exam. We know they do wrong, and are accordingly sanctioned and diplomatically isolated. 

But Netanyahu and Trump are different stories. To successive UK governments, Israel and United States are seen as special allies, and appear to receive unconditional support from them. For as long as Netanyahu has been Prime Minister of Israel, he has done everything possible to be the worst possible neighbour to his borders while manipulating Western democracies (step forward, Tony Blair), insisting he's doing the opposite. He doesn't hide the fact he wants Palestine to vanish, and if he had an opportunity, aim to do the same with Lebanon, Syria and, likely, also Iran (but only because Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei said the same about Israel beforehand). This week alone, Netanyahu has bombed all of them - unprovoked, without blinking and backed by Trump who previously pledged to make the world a 'safer place'.

Netanyahu attacking Lebanon and Syria hadn't been noticed by many, they seemed pretty low-key. But attacking Iran is hugely significant and, as I write this, it's still ongoing. He claims his military is targeting nuclear facilities and government buildings, but homes have also been hit - the death toll is reportedly in its hundreds. When Israel first attacked, global leaders gasped but then told Iran to 'calm down'. Iran didn't, and because of the tit-for-tatting, Israel is seen the victim. Even if Iran's politics is reformed, the Mullahs are gone and vote Barack Obama as the next President, unless Netanyahu is leader, Iran will always be the aggressor. And it's this that's driving me round the bend. No matter how bad a politics is in a country, no country ever deserves to be attacked.

Make no mistake of Netanyahu's intentions. It's easy to link it with Iran's 'nuclear ambitions,' and the fear of the country supposedly developing a nuclear weapon (which has been speculated for decades and yet, alas, Iran has no weapons of this kind). But it's all about power. I read excellent columnists like Matthew Syed who cry 'hurrah, the Mullahs are weakened,' but if they go, I'm utterly convinced that Netanyahu wants a large chunk of Iran's future - whether it's territory or political influence, he won't mind. You cannot underestimate his ambitions. 

This is different to Iran, though no better. Ayatollah Khamenei wants influence on some Arab nations, hence the funding of terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and others. Iran has no interest in occupying those countries, otherwise it'd have happened already. The Arab nations follow the 'wrong' type of Islam to the Ayatollah. Yet because of this, Israel is cornered, being surrounded by countries who are hostile towards the state. This has been deep-rooted in history, even before its creation in 1948 and goes beyond religion. Some Israeli leaders, like Yitzhak Rabin, genuinely tried the peace route, and there are examples of them succeeding to make friends with bordering nations - former US President Jimmy Carter worked wonders with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978. Netanyahu won't care about this - he is blood thirsty, always had been. He wants Iran, in all its glory.

Where does Farage fit in this, you're right to ask? As someone who props up Trump, has plans to stop immigration in a way that Pascal Sauvage from the first Jonny English film can be proud of, and allows his colleagues to question the burka in probably the same way Mullahs in Iran question why men wear shorts, is he the sort of person we want anywhere near 10 Downing Street? What happens with Trump's tariffs and the conflicts in the Middle East will matter to people in Clacton, Skegness and Runcorn - bombs force people to move, and move to Western and Northern Europe they shall - countries far away and safe. Many of them are banned to enter the United States. Farage endorsing politics that encourages countries like Israel to commit genocide over millions of people cornered in Palestine, is no leader that is putting their country first. And if he is to be given power at the same time as Trump and Netanyahu, we may as well give up any hope.

For what it's worth, like he's done with UKIP and the Brexit Party when they had decent number of votes in elections during which he was leader, Farage will get bored, resign and make the political organisation as good as defunct. Because that's the sort of person he is, someone who doesn't see things through. He has colleagues who publicly resign and then 48 hours later, sheepishly u-turn and pretends things are okay. This instability is something the UK does not need.

Events in the Middle East, tensions in the United States (I've not even mentioned the recent California riots) and the rise of Farage back at home, should ring alarm bells for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He pretends to 'talk tough' on social media and come up with nice funding announcements, trying to allow to let the policies do the talking, it's clear the British public want a leader with principles, no matter how these principles come across. Him bringing out his inner Michael Winner and asking Israel and Iran to 'calm down, dears' doesn't bode well. He knows Israel is instigating violence left, right and centre. He knows that anytime Iran is attacked, Iran plots something in return thus creating a vicious cycle. If Netanyahu isn't listening to an 'unreliable' UK, make him - whether it's through sanctions or a united front with other European leaders, it doesn't matter. Taking a stand will give you a much-needed poll boost, Mr Starmer.

History will judge this period with horror, but this can be turned around if there are heroes to stop evil from continuing to commit atrocities. Now isn't the time to choose a favourite baddie when they're all as terrible as each other. We can pray for all this fighting and childish behaviours to stop, and it can do once Netanyahu, Putin, Khamenei, Trump and the like no longer hold power. But their successors matter even more. Will Israel find a candidate who wants peace with its neighbours and is less focused on who controls what? Will Iran move away from being an Islamic Republic, or will voters flirt with the past when grass was barely greener? Will the United States move on from Trump and vote with their brains rather than their guns? I sense these questions will be answered all around the same time. The next few weeks and months are crucial.