Former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that in 2013, then US secretary of state John Kerry tried to influence him to apply the “Afghanistan model,” which in recent days has proven to be a colossal failure, to the Palestinian Authority.

“In 2013, I was approached by then US Secretary of State, John Kerry,” Netanyahu wrote in a lengthy Facebook post. “He invited me on a secret visit to Afghanistan to see, in his words, ‘how the United States established a local military force that can stand alone against terrorism.'”

“The message was clear – the ‘Afghanistan model’ is the model that the United States seeks to apply to the Palestinian cause as well.

“I politely declined the offer and denied that such a model was feasible. I estimated then that as soon as the United States left Afghanistan, everything would collapse. This is unfortunately what has happened in recent days: an extremist Islamic regime has conquered Afghanistan and will turn it into a state of terror that will endanger world peace.

“We’ll get the identical result if chalilah, we hand over part of our homeland to the Palestinians. The Palestinians will not establish Singapore, they will establish a state of terror in Judea and Samaria, a short distance from Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba and Netanya.

“We have seen the same mistaken policy regarding Iran. The international community is barreling toward a dangerous agreement that will grant Iran an ‘internationally approved’ arsenal of nuclear bombs intended for our destruction.

‘I was then asked by our friends to maintain silence on this matter, to refrain from taking action or opposing them. I didn’t agree to that either. We have pursued a policy of offense, from military, political, and hasbara viewpoints. I stood against the entire world, including many in Israel, and spoke to the US Congress against this dangerous agreement. Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Lapid attacked my actions [at the time].

“Ultimately, we influenced the US to impose heavy economic sanctions on Iran and withdraw from the nuclear deal. Iran would have long been an arsenal of nuclear bombs if it wasn’t for our firm actions.

“The conclusion is clear: the correct doctrine which I pursued is that we cannot trust others to protect us. We must defend ourselves, by ourselves, against any threat.

“To our dismay, today the Lapid-Abbas-Bennett government is doing the exact opposite – a path that endangers our security and our very existence. They agreed to a ‘no surprises’ policy against Iran, a dangerous policy that restricts Israel’s freedom to carry out military operations. They obey others and maintain a thunderous silence on Iran as it races to a bomb.

“They do so with the full and ridiculous backing of the fawning media that attempts to hide the lapses of this failed government, severe as they may be.

“A total failure in security, statesmanship, and the coronavirus. A state without a captain, a state in anarchy. How long will the media remain silent in the face of this anarchy that is only intensifying each day?”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)