The Pentagon has asked the US Congress to accept additional funding for military assistance to both Tel Aviv and Kyiv. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US presidential administration may combine two aid packages into one. The journalists’ publication said that this could increase the likelihood that Congress will approve aid to Kyiv. Let us remind you that this item is not provided for in the interim US budget, although the Biden administration insists on allocating $24 billion for the military needs of Ukraine. At the same time, according to the publication, American senators are simultaneously discussing the possibility of adopting an annual aid package for Kyiv. And it could be between $60 and $100 billion. Which is much more than the White House itself is asking for. This amount seems to be proposed by pro-Ukrainian senators from both Democrats and Republicans. They believe that passage of such a large package would send a strong signal that the crisis in the House of Representatives will not affect long-term support for Kyiv. According to journalists, funding may be accepted in the next month, before the end of the temporary US budget. Present Time asked Igor Semivolos, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, to comment on the situation.
– Let’s start with this aid package. Colleagues from American publications argue that there may be an attempt to combine everything into one package so that it has a better chance in Congress. Do you think this scenario is possible?
– Yes, of course, such a scenario is possible. Let’s start with the fact that Republicans actively support Israel. And this is an important element of their policy for them. So combining this package into one essentially allows both Republicans and Democrats to vote and thus solve the problem of blocking that we have seen for some time and attempts by parts of the Republican Party that are aligned with Trump to try to prevent a yes vote. assistance to Ukraine.
– All these days, many have been saying that the attacks could be related to the fact that relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia began to warm up. What does our viewer, who does not specialize in what is happening in the region, need to know in order to evaluate this war as critically as possible?
– You need to understand that this conflict is quite old and complex. There are always jokers in it, which, even in the face of attempts to establish contacts and create certain necessary conditions for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, can always play their game and destroy this combination. In this situation we see the same thing. I am not saying that this agreement between the Saudis, Israel and the Americans was 100% ready. But there really were consultations. Much has been written about this in the press. And it is obvious that the parties have brought their positions closer. And it is also obvious that on the part of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, there was a very important point that they tried to implement – a Palestinian state. That is, in this regard, an option arose that would ultimately allow this page of conflict to be closed. Again, this is not the end of the conflict, but this page of the conflict could have been closed.
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– Is Joe Biden one of the jokers in the conflict?
– In this situation, no. In this situation, the joker is Iran, Hamas, and I assume Russia. And Putin’s comment shows this. That is, for him, these Abraham Accords and attempts to resolve the security issue in the Middle East by creating an anti-Iranian alliance aimed against Iran’s expansion in the Middle East pose a threat to both Iran and its ally, Russia. So in this regard, of course, we talk about Hamas as a wild card, because they played their game. But in general, the Iranian trace is clearly visible here, despite the fact that they are now abandoning everything: both those words and those statements that they made just a few days ago.
– Sources close to President Biden’s inner circle claim that the United States will not insist that Israel act in any very humble way. What do you think Biden and Netanyahu can agree on?
– There are these attempts to come to an agreement. In any case, you will have to pay attention to public opinion, to the picture that will arise as a result of either bombing or direct fighting in the densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. Therefore, this situation poses a serious dilemma for Israel. And the United States of America, with all the understandable solidarity that we see now, tension may also arise there, and irritation may increase. Therefore, now there is, relatively speaking, a certain time, it is not endless, during which Israel can carry out this military operation. But sooner or later he will have to stop it. But the actual question arises: what to do with Gaza, what to do with the people in Gaza, what to do with the humanitarian crisis and, by and large, catastrophe as a result of this military operation?
– Do you think that they will try to somehow freeze the conflict again?
“It doesn’t look like that now.” We see Israel’s great intention, in principle, to bring the matter to an end. But, as we understand, intentions and implementation are two different things. That is, how far will they be able to accomplish this and whether a threat will arise as a result, when the army is largely drawn into urban battles, a threat from the north. This is quite possible, it has already happened, it worked in past years. Therefore, here again a lot of questions and dilemmas arise for Israel and dilemmas for the States.
2023-10-11 04:00:45
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