New Delhi: Global commentators have taken note of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) poster of billionaire philanthropist, George Soros as a puppeteer, with purported strings controlling Congress leader and MP, Rahul Gandhi.
The poster was noted and attacked as downright anti-Semitic. Editor-in-chief of the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, Esther Solomon, termed the poster as “fascinating, repulsive, grotesque”. She wrote in a post, “Modi’s BJP, the biggest political party in the world, using an image of Soros the puppeteer, a key viral far-right antisemitic meme. Fascinating, repulsive, grotesque. And no, don’t expect Israel’s far-right government to object. Netanyahu’s ministers love this stuff.”
Solomon is probably referring to meetings that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu held with Elon Musk last month, who has been criticised for adopting several slogans and tropes from the White supremacist playbook. Netanyahu is also regarded as amongst Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s friends, with both leaders often making a point to display personal ties.
In a sharp comment, Professor of International Relations in Brisbane’s Griffith Asia Institute and also Honorary Fellow, Australia India Institute, Dr. Ian Hall said on X, “This might play well in India (and perhaps also on this platform) but elsewhere this looks really ugly and straightforwardly antisemitic.”
Gideon Rachman, author and chief foreign affairs commentator for London-based The Financial Times chimed in with Hall and said, it was “depressing how they adopt some of the ugliest and nastiest aspects of the West with such enthusiasm.”
The response has been sharp and the BJP’s social media efforts have drawn attention to a well-known anti-Semitic symbol deployed to insult the Congress leader.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here