“The Biden administration is snubbing our friends like Israel but they’re cozying up to enemies like Iran,” said former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley in an interview with Fox News last week.
“Biden’s been in office for two weeks now. He has yet to call the Israeli prime minister, one of our closest allies,” she said. “I don’t understand the logic.”
Biden still hasn’t called Netanyahu as of Tuesday of this week. On Monday, Netanyahu said that he will speak with Biden “as he [Biden] sees fit.”
“Biden is making calls to world leaders according to the order he sees fit,” Netanyahu said in response to a question during a press conference on Monday. “He has not reached the Middle East yet,”
“The Israel-US alliance is strong and so is our friendship of almost 40 years, although we may not agree on everything,” Netanyahu added.
Haley also criticized Biden’s plan to enter the 2015 nuclear deal as “literally Obama 2.0.”
“You’re actually hurting our friends, Israel and the Arab countries that worked with us on getting these sanctions passed on Iran, that worked with us on trying to hold back terrorism,” she said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that although he understands the importance of the Golan to Israel’s security, the Biden administration is not necessarily endorsing Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan.
Secy. of State Antony Blinken on whether the US will continue to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights: "Leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security as long as Assad is in power in Syria" pic.twitter.com/yHQBr7FvgP
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) February 9, 2021
“As long as [dictator Bashar] Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and as a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel’s security,” Blinken said.
“Legal questions are something else. And over time, if the situation were to change in Syria, that’s something we’d look at. But we are nowhere near as that.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
She is the best.
Re: the Golan!
I don’t understand how this works! Every new administration reverses deals and commitments!? So of what are these deals and commitments if they change every 4 or 8 years! They’re of minimal consequence! Nothing is binding? Stupid!
You are assuming that the current U.S. opinion on the Golan has meaning. It doesn’t. Israel has unilaterally controlled the Golan for over 50 years. U.S. has continuously agreed that Israel will continue to control it for the foreseeable future. It’s just rhetoric. That said, the people they are trying to please with these symbolic statements, are not good people.
Remember the old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer,