There is no easier-to-read test for a capitalist government than its position on Palestine, Israel and Zionism — the political ideology built on the mistaken belief that only an exclusive Jewish state can provide safety against antisemitism. Since October 2023, world capital has increasingly debased itself at the altar of Zionism — to the ever-growing opposition and outrage of the international working class. We have seen governments, corporations, the media, and those who run these organisations, belligerently advocating for the state of Israel. These institutions openly support and seek to profit from the technologically sophisticated murder and ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine, Iran and Lebanon. Policing of Palestinian support networks in countries where the capitalist class have the most to lose by a fracturing of their relationship with Israel — the U.S., the UK, Germany and Australia — is increasingly draconian,
Less visible in the news cycle is the web of ties that connect the Israeli state to the rest of the world. While millions globally recoil at the images of flattened cities and starving Palestinian babies and march in the streets in protest demanding solutions, it is business as usual for the capitalist class pursuing a fatter bottom line. This complex web of trade and financial quid pro quo, often invisible at first glance, can be found around the world.
New Zealand, despite its physical remoteness and distance from Israel, is a part of this web. This is evident in Israeli ties to New Zealand agriculture, dairy and the burgeoning technology sector. Israel is entwined in the industries that form the bedrock of the Kiwi economy.
Christian Zionism. Israel has cultivated close personal relationships with local religious leaders. Israel then utilises these church communities, and accompanying donation boxes, to propagandise for Zionism. Since 2014, when a seven-week-long war on Gaza killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, some of Israel’s loudest mouthpieces have been Kiwi church leaders. The Israeli Embassy and its then ambassador, Ran Yaakoby, built deep relationships with a section of the conservative Christian community. Supposedly based on a shared spirituality, they benefit Israeli foreign policy. At the same time a host of well-made, ahistorical and viciously anti-Palestinian websites began appearing online. One such site, Trust For The Protection of Zion, claims sole representation of historical truth as it faithfully mirrors Israeli policy. Kiwi church leaders, working hand in glove with the Israeli Embassy, enlist the help of city councils and local politicians to promote Zionist events, such as celebrating the 1948 founding of Israel — an event Palestinians call the Nakba, or catastrophe. The Christian Zionist community, prominent members of local business and a parade of politicians turn out in force — all paid for by the church and the Trust For The Protection of Zion.
This same coalition of Christian Zionists, mobilised by the church, protest against Palestine solidarity rallies. In numbers they climb off buses, paid for with funding from Trust For The Protection of Zion, waving professionally made signs and Israeli flags. They cheer as right and far-right politicians pledge their allegiance to the Zionist cause and give speeches praising the “little democracy in the Middle East that we share so much in common with.” Despite targeting by this Christian Zionist element with its complimentary bus service, the protests in cities such as Auckland are massive, drawing up to 50,000 in support of the Palestinian cause.
The multi-denominational Coalition of Ministers Supporting Israel is led by Nigel Woodley, the chief advocate for the Trust for the Protection of Zion. Its purpose is to support Zionism and to counter pro-Palestinian groups within New Zealand, especially Muslim groups such as the Council of Imams and advocates for liberation theology, such as Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine. Woodley’s mission is to target the Palestine movement and, through his work with Ebenezer Operation Exodus, “provide support, hope, practical help and sometimes financial assistance” to encourage Jews to emigrate to Israel, including to illegal settlements in the West Bank. He has received awards from Israel for his efforts.
Linked to Christian Zionists are a host of Zionist think tanks. Parallel to Trust For The Protection of Zion is a multitude of other sites such as the Israel Institute of NZ, the Zionist Federation of NZ and the NZ Friends of Israel Association. All run websites hosting Zionist propaganda, news and opinion pieces and serve to push the government closer to the Israeli state. Information about who funds these think-tanks is not publicly available. They are not registered charities, trusts or incorporated societies and therefore do not need to disclose from where they receive their income.
Business Zionism. In March 2020, the New Zealand Labour government quietly signed the clumsily named “agreement between the Government and the State of Israel and the Government of New Zealand on cooperation in Technological Innovation, Research and Development.” At a time when demands are growing to cut ties to Israel, this agreement has been heavily criticised for its potential military application.
The Zionist think tanks pushing the adoption of this agreement are closely tied in with privately run organisations such as the NZ Israel Innovation Hub. This hub promotes partnerships between Israeli and New Zealand business and tech sectors. It has financial backing from monday.com, an Israeli-based AI tech company. The Hub helps Kiwi biotech, and tech start-ups access Israeli-made technologies. As capital flows back and forth between the two countries, this puts further pressure on the NZ government to maintain ties with Israel. However pressure is growing from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, demanding that New Zealand sever all economic ties with businesses promoted by the Hub.
The aim of Kiwi Zionists is to make Israel indispensable to the future of New Zealand capital by tying Israel to the current and next generation of capitalists and to gain political leverage wherever it can be used to greatest effect. The NZ capitalist economy relies on agriculture — especially the dairy industry — and a fast-growing constellation of biotech and IT companies to function. These industries dominate the economy, while workers — two-thirds of whom work in the service sector — see their living standards continue to decline.
In 2025 RocketLab, a private small lift rocket and satellite component manufacturing company, launched two BlackSky Gen3 satellites into orbit from Hawkes Bay’s Mahia Peninsula, in the North Island. These satellites provide advanced, high-resolution Earth observation. They provide the horrifying capability of magnifying an image, from orbit, down to a resolution of 35 centimetres — about the size of an average laptop screen. Company spin claims it enables users to monitor “patterns of life” to detect, track and analyse changes in areas of interest at “warfighting speed.” In the months following 7 October 2023, Blacksky is reported to have signed an estimated 150 million dollar contact with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, giving the military the ability to monitor “patterns of life” in Gaza with unobstructed clarity — before extinguishing that life with massive bombs! This is what RocketLab, a New Zealand company, has provided to the Palestinian people. Another novel way for their human rights to be abused and their lives to be destroyed — while providing lavish profits to the Rocketlab shareholders.
RocketLab is not the only offender. Rakon, a New Zealand-based technology manufacturer, sells crystal oscillators to U.S. defence contractors who produce Joint Direct Attack Munitions. These guidance kits convert unguided “dumb” bombs into all-weather, precision-guided “smart” munitions. These weapons have seen extensive use in the Gazan genocide. While the company claims it has no responsibility for how its customers use the components it supplies, the Palestine solidarity movement disagrees. It filed a brief with the International Criminal Court charging the CEO of Rakon with complicity in war crimes.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) itself has links to Israel. In 2019, it purchased bomb-clearing robots from Roboteam, an Israeli company which supplies the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Furthermore the defence brass and Minister of Defence, Chris Penk — a National Party politician — defended New Zealand’s participation in the 2025 RimPac exercises in Hawaii alongside the IDF — to the ever-growing outrage from working class Kiwis!
It isn’t just the NZDF working with the IDF or using Israeli-made technology. The NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment uses Cobweb Technologies software — developed by ex-Israeli intelligence officials — which has the ability to track, trace and monitor the private messages of Palestinians living in New Zealand and, potentially, their communication with friends and family in Gaza. It should be noted that unlike other NZ intelligence gathering agencies, there is no independent monitoring of the usage of this software by any external government department.
We are the people … we won’t be silenced. Circumstances are changing in New Zealand, despite the callous indifference to Palestinian suffering by the capitalist class. Thanks to the work of Palestinian support networks, such as the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), the awareness of young, working class and Māori New Zealanders about the plight of the Palestinian people is increasing.
Palestine solidarity activists counter a 2025 Zionist rally in Napier. Photos by Kerry Bobby Guy.
The BDS movement, led by groups like PSNA and Justice for Palestine, has achieved several notable wins. The “Don’t Bank on Apartheid” campaign successfully pressured the ASB Bank to divest from Motorola Solutions. The company is identified by the United Nations as helping maintain illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank through its supply of surveillance and security technology. Following sustained pressure, the NZ Super Fund has excluded several companies from its investment portfolio, including Elbit Systems, which manufactures drones and surveillance technology. Academic boycotts have seen the board of Victoria University endorse a motion to sever ties with institutions complicit in violations of Palestinian human rights, and to end research collaborations with organisations tied to Israeli military technologies.
Then there are the protests, from the 50-strong weekly actions in Napier to Auckland’s massive March for Humanity in September 2025. These are not seen as a public disturbance or frivolous self-indulgence by most Kiwis. They are frequently valued as displays of humanity and talked about positively.
New Zealanders have a long and proud history of fighting apartheid. There were significant protests against South Africa in the ’80s and early ’90s. In 1981, hundreds of protestors swarmed the field during a rugby match between NZ and South Africa, forcing the cancellation of the game. Nelson Mandela later reflected on hearing about events, saying it “felt like the sun had come out.”
The world is ever more globally connected. The truth is available online, and Kiwis are seeing it. They see the Gazan people bravely protesting the crimes committed against them and contrast this with the genocidal gloating of Israeli politicians and their Zionist backers. With leadership from longtime human rights advocates like John Minto and initiatives like the PSNA-initiated Genocide Hotline — part media stunt, part genuine attempt to call out ex-IDF tourists and galvanise the New Zealand tourism industry — small victories are being won. Christchurch City Council has resolved not to do business with firms involved in Israel’s illegal settlements. Other city councils have voted in support of a Palestinian state and are openly flying Palestinian flags. There are mass rallies organised by PSNA and Justice for Palestine and legal advocacy work by groups, like the Hind Rajab Foundation.
One by one, Kiwis are being radicalised through their solidarity with the people of Palestine. The Gaza genocide has cleared the minds of many working class people in this country. Kiwis are beginning to see the difference between us and what is being called “the Epstein class.” Israel’s cruelty is a perfect example of what separates us from them. The international working class is working to untie the diplomatic, trade and financial bonds that bind our countries to Israel. New Zealand isn’t unique in its relationship with the Israeli state, we are just another symptom of the sickness. It is the system of capitalism that allows Israel to do what it is doing in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere — imperialism cannot exist without the profit incentive. If we can cut the ties that feed Zionism and maintain pressure on our governments and the institutions that support and supply Israel, then we can tangibly help the people of Palestine in their ongoing fight for their right to exist and be free and equal. There is always work to be done, and revolution never sleeps — including in little New Zealand, but steps are being made in the right direction.
Kerry Guy is a passionate supporter of the Palestinian cause. He is a single parent who works as a gardener and lives in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
