Tehran – Famous New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman says Benjamin Netanyahu’s “ultra-nationalist” and “messianic” government are not allies of the United States.
In his article published on May 9, Friedman says that the Netanyahu government’s priority is to annex the West Bank and expel Palestinians from Gaza.
Below is a major part of his article entitled “This Israeli government is not our ally.”
Dear President Trump,
Except in the Middle East, there are few initiatives you have taken on since I agreed and took office. The fact that you travel there next week and meet leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the fact that you have no plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel suggests to me that you are beginning to understand the important truth. Netanyahu is not our friend.
But he thought he could make you his champ. That’s why I was impressed by how you signaled him through Hamas, Iran and your independent negotiations that he had not purchased you, that you wouldn’t be his passion. It clearly brings him into panic.
Generally speaking, there is no doubt that the people of Israel continue to see themselves as a steady ally of the American people. However, this ultranationalist, Messiah’s Israeli government is not an American ally. Because this is the first government in Israel’s history, and its prioritization is not peace with its Arab neighbours, but the benefits of greater security and coexistence. Those priorities are annexation of the West Bank, expelling Palestinians in Gaza, and reestablishing Israeli settlements.
The notion that Israel has a government that no longer acts as an American ally and should not be seen as such is a shocking and bitter medicine that Israeli friends in Washington swallow, but they need to be swallowed.
Because in pursuit of that extremist agenda, this Netanyahu government is undermining our interests. The fact that you are not running through you the way he has other US presidents in Netanyahu is your achievement. It is also important to advocate for the US security architecture that our predecessors built in the region.
The current structure of the US-Israel alliance was founded by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger after the war in October 1973, and pushed Russia out and made America the region’s leading global force. Nixon Kisinger’s diplomacy established a 1974 withdrawal agreement between Israel, Syria and Egypt. They laid the foundations for the Camp David Treaty of Peace. Camp David laid the foundation for the Oslo Peace Agreement. The result was an area ruled by the United States, Arab ally and Israel.
However, this overall structure relied heavily on US and Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution of sorts. This is a commitment you yourself attempted to move forward in your own first term in the plans of the Palestinian states on the West Bank next to Gaza and Israel, regarding the terms that Palestinians agreed to acknowledge Israel and accept that the state is portrayed.
However, this Netanyahu government prioritized annexation of the West Bank in late 2022 when it came to power on October 7, 2023 before the Hamas invasion.
For almost a year, the Biden administration begged Netanyahu to do one thing for America and Israel. In return for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel, one day agrees to dialogue with Palestinian authority over the two states’ solutions, along with reformed authorities. It would pave the way for a U.S.-Saudi security treaty to parliamentary passage to offset Iran and freeze China.
Netanyahu refused. Because the Jewish supremacists in his cabinet said if he did, they would overthrow his government, and on multiple charges of corruption Netanyahu dragged the trial, waiving protections that he was prime minister, and he couldn’t prevent a prison term in advance.
So Netanyahu led his personal interests ahead of Israel and America. Normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia was the most important Muslim force built to build a two-state solution with moderate Palestinians, opening up the entire Muslim world to Israeli tourists, investors and innovators, easing tensions between Jews and Muslims, and was globally comforted by the Middle East kissing in the Nixon fis a dec in fis Nixon among Muslims around the world.
The fact that you are not running through you the way he has other US presidents in Netanyahu is your achievement.
After Netanyahu spins everyone around for two years, both Americans and Saudi Arabia reportedly decided to give up on involvement in Israeli dealings. “The United States no longer requires Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel as a condition for progress in private nuclear cooperation,” Reuters reported Thursday.
And now, it may get worse. Netanyahu is preparing to re-invade Gaza with plans to flock to the Palestinian population into small horns. The Mediterranean Sea is virtually combined on one side and the other on the West Bank at unprecedented speeds and widths. In doing so, you will seek more war crime accusations against Israel (particularly the new Army Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir) that Vivi hopes your administration will protect him from him.
Netanyahu’s plan to re-invade Gaza is not to set up a moderate alternative to Hamas, led by Palestinian authorities. It is due to a permanent Israeli military occupation that does not aim to pressure all Palestinians to leave. It is a prescription for a permanent rebellion – Vietnam in the Mediterranean.