In the United States, few groups are more pro-war in both the Middle East and in Europe than the billionaire class. People like Peter Thiel of Palantir make billions off taxpayer-funded contracts by selling technology tested on Palestinians to the US government in order to collect data on American citizens. But while war might be profitable for a select group of American billionaires who can avoid the free-market almost entirely, European billionaires, along with the working class are waking up to the fact that foreign wars are bad for business. The recent Czech election is a strong indication that opinion is changing on support for Israel and Ukraine which bodes well for peace in both regions.
On October 4th, former Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s political party, ANO, returned to power after years of pro-Ukraine and pro-EU rule. Babis, a billionaire and firebrand right-wing populist, promised economic growth, higher wages and pensions, lowered tax rates, and tax discounts for students. However, Babis differentiated himself even further from the ruling center-right establishment by pledging to end military aid for Ukraine. However, Babis has differentiated himself from other European right-wing populists even further by criticizing Israel.
While Babis was pro-Israel in his first term, he has increasingly moved away from this position. In September, he agreed that pressure should be placed on Israel to prevent it from conquering Gaza City. While Babis is certainly not a hardened Zionist or even a partial ally of the Palestinian people, his criticism of Israel is extremely surprising. In the 1920s, the founder of Czechoslovakia (the predecessor state of the Czech Republic) was a staunch ally of the early Zionists. Except for during the period of Communist rule, Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic have been considered the “voice of Israel in Europe”. Clearly, the opinions of politicians and the public is changing in even the most pro-Israel parts of Europe with recent polling showing that almost 60% of Czech people disagree that the government should back Israel unconditionally.
A similar trend away from Israel and/or Ukraine has also occurred in other Visegrád Group (V4) countries. The V4, composed of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, is an alliance which primarily cooperates economically and militarily. Relations between V4 countries have been heavily strained since 2024 due to Poland and the Czech Republic’s hostility towards Russia. However, with the re-election of Andrej Babis and the election of Karol Nawrocki as President of Poland, the V4 is now mostly united on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine War. However, while Slovakian, Polish, and, now, Czech leaders have all been somewhat critical of Israel, Viktor Orban of Hungary has remained “Israel’s staunchest friend in the EU”.
As a whole, the people of Europe are making it clear to both European and American elites that they will no longer be deceived into supporting US-led proxy wars. Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza and the NATO-provoked Russia-Ukraine war have not led to “freedom” (whatever that means). Instead these wars have led to needless deaths and the loss of tax dollars which would be better spent domestically. Politicians should heed the will of the people and foster lasting peace agreements and not forever wars if they wish to stay in power.
J.D. Hester is an independent writer born and raised in Arizona. He has previously written for Antiwar.com and other websites. You can send him an email at josephdhester@gmail.com. Follow him on X (@JDH3ster).
