Written By: Justin K.P.
A clip from the documentary film “Defamation,” released in 2009, about the ADL’s strong ties to the Israel lobby, contains a clip that seems deeply relevant to current developments in Venezuela.
In the film Isaac Herzog, the current Israeli president, who was then the Israeli “Minister in Charge of Anti-Semitic Affairs,” is filmed meeting with Abraham Foxman, then National Director of the Israel lobby group ADL (Anti-Defamation League).
The conversation goes as follows:
Isaac Herzog: I wanted to ask, since we met last about the issue of Venezuela, because I heard voices kind of saying it’s not so bad and Latin America is not so bad, but I’m not convinced.
Abraham Foxman: You have good reason not to be convinced. It is getting, and little by little, as long as oil money …
Isaac Herzog: I’m told that by our experts it’s the only- except for Iran- it’s the only government propagating anti-Semitism today around the world … so are you pressing in any way?
Abraham Foxman: We’ve talked to Jesse Jackson, who has a relationship, but it’s not for camera, but there are other plans we’ll talk about it in a minute.
This discussion was likely in the context of then Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez breaking off ties with Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after Israel slaughtered hundreds of Palestinians civilians during “Operation Cast Lead”.
The oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil had pushed for regime change in Venezuela since 2001, after Hugo Chavez “passed a law called the Organic Hydrocarbons Law, which asserted state ownership over all oil and gas reserves, held upstream activities of exploration and extraction for the state-controlled companies, but allowed private firms – including foreign firms – to participate in downstream activities (such as refining and sale)” which “deeply angered the US-owned oil companies – particularly ExxonMobil and Chevron – which put pressure on the government of US President George W. Bush to act against Chávez.”
This resulted in extensive CIA interference in Venezuela, including a short-lived U.S. backed coup against him in 2002.
But the clip shown in “Defamation” shows that since 2009, the Israel lobby, including the ADL, joined the oil lobby in pushing the U.S. towards regime change in Venezuela.
Years later, Israel made connections to María Corina Machado, a U.S. puppet in the Venezuelan opposition, to further the regime change goal in Venezuela.
This included her signing an “Inter-Party Agreement” with the ruling Israeli Likud party in 2020, which promised to“forge an alliance between our two parties to cooperate on political, ideological, and social matters, as well as advancing cooperation on issues related to strategy, geopolitics and security, among others, in order to create an operational partnership”.
The Israeli newspaper Ynet reported that Machado has “close ties with the state and the Likud party”.
“We rely on Israel’s support in dismantling Maduro’s crime regime and in the transition to democracy”, Maria Corina Machado admitted to Israel Hayom, implying Israeli involvement in the regime change operations.
While the Trump administration ended up deciding that interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez would be an acceptable puppet leader rather than Maria Corina Machado, she seems to have made the same deal with Israel that Machado did.
Reversing years of solidarity shown by Venezuela with Palestine, the Delcy Rodriguez administration recently announced:
The Governments of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the State of Israel announce that, following the visit of the Israeli humanitarian delegation to Venezuela in response to the double earthquake that occurred on June 24, and in follow-up to discussions held between high-ranking officials of both countries, the two nations have agreed to allow the continuation of bilateral technical cooperation stemming from the emergency and recovery efforts following the double earthquake. Furthermore, the two nations agree to establish a coordination mechanism to facilitate the provision of consular services to their respective citizens residing in the other country, as needed. Both governments recognize the importance of the bond between the State of Israel and the Jewish community residing in Venezuela, which constitutes a significant historical bridge of friendship between the two countries.
The apparent involvement from the Israel lobby in pushing for regime change in Venezuela seems to have paid off and reversed the country’s support for Palestine.
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