Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said that the United States wanted to bend Israel's arm by refraining from announcing a veto against a draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip last week, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now convinced that US President Joe Biden wants to overthrow him.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the last Israeli foreign minister in a government led by the Labor Party said that Biden was fed up with Netanyahu and that abstaining from using the veto in the Security Council was “part of a progressive strategy to send signals to Israel that things can change.” The abstention was The vote was a severe blow to Netanyahu, and its importance exceeded the importance of other similar steps in recent years.

According to Ben Ami, the change in the American position appeared, for example, in a statement by Biden leaked to the media that Netanyahu had become a burden, but he did not see the abstention from using the veto as a change in the American strategy in the Middle East as much as he saw it as an attempt to twist Israel’s arm, which made Netanyahu convinced that Biden wanted to bring him down. .

War and elections

Ben-Ami said that although Washington was keen to limit itself to abstaining from voting for the resolution (which was not binding), its step clearly expressed a willingness to go further in the pressure, especially if Netanyahu’s rule continued, which, according to him, would be as embarrassing as it was Biden, and he stated that the close and volatile relationship between the two parties was wise. Always clear limits, which are not to obstruct American geopolitical interests or the goals of the White House resident.

He explained that Biden cannot launch the election season burdened by the burden of the failure of his strategy in the Middle East, not to mention his need to save face before world leaders.

Ben Ami - who was one of the architects of the Israeli-Arab peace processes in the past few decades - added that Israel is living in a state of isolation and described it as "a threat to Western goals in the current cold war between the United States on the one hand and China and Russia on the other hand."

According to the former minister, Biden had a clear strategy in the Middle East, based on a solid alliance with Israel and the Arab countries against Iran, and the great success of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was in dragging Netanyahu into a war without clear political goals that removed Israel from the Western alliance that was established. Recent years, which supports Ukraine against Russia and China.

He referred to what he called the extremely sudden explosion against Israel in the world, the likes of which had never happened before, and this, according to him, is a great victory for Hamas. He said that what prevents this explosion from being confronted is Netanyahu’s extremist government.

Ben-Ami also warned Israel against being blind to the major currents present in American society and seeking to distance itself from Israel, whether in the Democratic Party or among the youth. He held Netanyahu responsible for the rise in popularity of the more extreme trends in American society, such as evangelicals or “Trumpism.”

The former Israeli minister noted another damage caused by the Israeli Prime Minister, which is the rift in American Jewish support. He said that Netanyahu and his extremist government were able to split the ranks of American Jews who have never failed to support Israel, to the point that there is now among them a movement calling for the adoption of a new ideology that ends dependence on Israel. 

Source: Spanish press