Under lesser known but still shocking insults to the Palestinian world – and the sane of this world — was last week’s visit to Israel by British fascist Tommy Robinson.  Robinson (AKA Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) was invited on the expense-paid junket by cabinet minister Amichai Chikli and the Netanyahu government.   Chikli called Robinson a  “courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam.”

But who is Tommy Robinson?  He is one of the most outrageous anti-immigrant white supremacist hoodlums in the UK. He has been filmed saying things such as:

• “Somalis are backward barbarians”; 
• British Muslims are “enemy combatants who want to kill you, maim you and destroy you”;  
• and refugees are “raping their way through the country”.

Beyond mere words, over the last 20 years, Robinson’s been jailed five times for offences including football brawling, travelling on another man’s passport, mortgage fraud, possession of drugs, threatening behaviour and breaching a court order.  Even the Board of Deputies of British Jews complains that Robinson is “a thug who represents the very worst of Britain“. The BDBJ plus the Jewish Leadership Council (neither of whom are critics of Israel) disagree with the invitation, stating that Robinson  

“undermines those genuinely working to tackle Islamic extremism and foster  community cohesion. Minister Chikli has proven himself to be a diaspora minister in name only. In our darkest hour, he has ignored the views of the vast majority of British Jews, who utterly and consistently reject Robinson and everything he stands for.”

“I wouldn’t trouble you [to alter the date of the verdict] if this was a trip to Benidorm. I would ask him to rearrange it– but he is a guest of a foreign government.” 

UK Barrister for Tommy Robinson

Just to be able to travel to Israel last week, Robinson’s lawyer Alisdair Williamson KC– supplied pro bono by none other than Elon Musk – had to successfully negotiate a postponement on the verdict on Robinson’s latest charge.   As Williamson asked the judge, 

“I wouldn’t trouble you [to alter the date of the verdict] if this was a trip to Benidorm. I would ask him to rearrange it– but he is a guest of a foreign government.” 

Now the verdict will be handed down early in November rather than this month.  If convicted, Robinson faces up to three months in prison or a fine of £2,500 (C$4,700).

The former leader of the (now defunct) English Defence  League (EDL),  and previous member of the British National Party (BNP), Robinson, 42, is a  career fascist.   By that I mean his notoriety as an extreme-right leader and activist has grown to the point that he’s a world leader in the fight against Muslims, according to the far right in Israel. 

Robinson even has a connection to Canada.  In 2017-18, US billionaire tech mogul Robert Shillman helped to foot the bill for the ultra-rightwing Rebel Media to hire Robinson.  The Guardian reports he was paid £5,000 a month (C$9,300).

Yet Israel’s political elite invited, wined and dined him this past week.  Just as the motto about the IDF being “the most moral army in the world” is now reduced to a hollow joke, the fact that Israel seeks out and entertains men like Robinson and pro-fascist state leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, shows Israel’s destiny.  A renegade country, an outcast, no dependable allies, save for the US and the UK.  We’ll see how long those links last.

Screenshot at the top: Tommy Robinson interviews Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli on Oct. 16, 2025. Screenshot of interview. You can read about it in an article in The Forward, here.