English
Does "Capital" mean money in the following context or is it something else? Does "far-right government" refer to the American or I*raeli government?
"In the wake of the US elections and the outsized support of Israeli political capital by a far-right government in Washington, the Palestinians also expressed worry about their legal status in the Philippines, a close US and Israeli ally."
Headline image by towfiqu999999 on Unsplash
1
I think political capital here refers to Tel Aviv. Second one: US government
Usually, "political capital" is someone's ability to influence politics. "John has a lot of policital capital" means John is able to convince politicians to back his decisions.
It works similarly to the regular capital, i.e. money and resources.
Every time John asks someone to supports his decisions, he spends a little bit of his "political capital". If supporting John turns out to be beneficial for the politicians, they know that supporting John is often a good idea, will be more likely to listen to him next time, and John's "political capital" grows. If it turns out to be bad for them, they would be less likely to listen to John next time, and his "political capital" shrinks.
"Political capital" is usually not something you can "support". I don't think it's a good choice of words. Most probably, the author meant "support Israeli politics".
"Far-right goverment" in this phrase refers to the U.S. government.
Yes, you're right... "Un apoyo desmesurado al capital político de Israel"--I was a bit drowsy last night lol
However, the expression is rather awkward
Thank you, @eugen_blick and @quassnoi!
I have another question, does capital mean the same as Lobby in this context?
No, not exactly. The lobby in DC would be one of the reasons--probably the most important--why the far-right US government so decidedly supports Israeli policies in the Middle East
"Lobby" is a group of people who try to influence politicians. They usually act on behalf of those who don't want to or can't be involved in the politics directly. "Israeli lobby in the U.S." would mean people and organizations who convince U.S. politicians to implement policy that would serve Israel's interests. Lobby, of course, would need to have political capital to do its job, but "lobby" and "political capital" are not synonyms.
Again, thank you, @eugen_blick and @quassnoi! :)
You're welcome ;)