The ultimatum to Israel of the American president, Joe Bidenwhich yesterday threatened to stop supplying offensive weapons if they invade the Gazan city of Rafahhas brought to light the deep political divisions in the country and within the government of Benjamin Netanyahuwho has responded indirectly.
Instead of replying directly, Netanyahu has chosen to publish on his X account a fragment of his speech on May 5, at the commemoration in Israel of the Holocaust Remembrance Daywhere he stated that Israel can take care of itself.
“I say to the leaders of the world: no pressure, no decision from any international forum will prevent Israel from defending itself. If Israel is forced to fend for itself, she will do so alone »was the part of his speech that he published today in a challenging message towards the US Biden administration.
In an interview last night with CNN, Biden detailed that if Israeli troops invade Rafah, the US will stop sending offensive weapons such as artillery and bombs for fighter jets, but will continue to supply defensive material for the Iron Dome anti-missile system, in line with his commitment to the defense of Israel.
“The failure of this to become a public disagreement during times of war is entirely the responsibility of the Netanyahu government.”said today the former prime minister and leader of the opposition in Israel, the centrist Yair Lapid.
According to Lapid, the American president is upset by Netanyahu’s words on Sunday at the Holocaust Museum, the same ones he tweeted today.
The opposition leader criticized the prime minister for saying that “one minute after the Americans gave us $14 billion last week,” for which “the Americans felt offended.”
More hostile to the US has been the extremist minister and settler Itamar Ben Gvirhead of the National Security portfolio, who wrote on his X profile “Hamas” and “Biden” along with the emoji of a heart between the two, in reaction to Biden’s announcement.
The Israeli Finance Minister, also a settler and ultranationalist Bezalel Smotrichignored Biden’s threat and urged to “conquer” Rafah immediately and completely.
Until now, Biden had resisted threatening to suspend the shipment of weapons to Israel, his greatest asset to pressure Netanyahu, with whom he has publicly expressed his disagreement over the strategy for Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are crowded. They have fled other parts of the enclave due to the Israeli offensive.
In another unprecedented gesture, Biden acknowledged that US weapons had been used by Israel to kill civilians in the Gaza Stripwhere more than 34,900 people have already died since the war began in October, mostly women and children, according to Hamas’s Gaza Health Ministry.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth AhronothBiden’s threats are more than anything a symbolic gesture to “appease Democratic voters, particularly progressive ones, ahead of the presidential elections” in November.
Faced with the hostility of the hardline government, the Israeli president, Isaac Herzogreiterated today that Biden is “a great friend” of the Hebrew country and that it is everyone’s responsibility to “avoid baseless, irresponsible and insulting statements and tweets that harm the national security and the interests of the State of Israel.”
Both the war and security cabinets, both headed by Netanyahu, are scheduled to meet this Thursday afternoon to address the Israeli response to Biden’s threat and the possible arms restriction.
The Minister of Defense and one of the three voting members of the war cabinet, Yoav Gallantalso sent a veiled message to the US today in which he assured that Israel will guarantee “whatever the cost” the existence of the State and will eliminate all threats that “try to destroy us.”
“I turn to Israel’s enemies, as well as our best friends, and tell them: the State of Israel cannot be subdued.”he claimed.
Israel declared war on October 7 after an attack by the Islamist movement Hamas in Israeli territory that caused around 1,200 deaths and in which around 250 people were taken hostage.
After seven months of war, Israeli troops ordered the evacuation of some 100,000 people in the eastern area of Rafah on Monday and on Tuesday took control of the Palestinian part of the crossing that connects the enclave with Egypt, vital for the entry of aid. humanitarian now paralyzed, in addition to intensifying the bombings.
The United States is the main supplier of weapons to Israel and one of its strongest allies in the world. Between 2016 and 2023, 69% of the weapons imported by Israel came from the North American country, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. EFE (I)
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