Israeli minister claims he would vote for Trump if he could
Israel’s diaspora affairs minister said he would vote for Trump if he could, according to The New Arab on April 24th and agencies.
“If I were an American citizen with the right to vote, I’d vote for Trump and Republicans” stated Minister Amichai Chikli in an interview for Kan Radio.
Chikli claimed that “Biden is a friend of Israel, but he’s under intense pressure that is affecting him and creating real damage to relations between the countries”.
“He said ‘Don’t’ to Hezbollah and Iran at the beginning of the war, and we saw the result” he continued.
As a matter of fact, following the April 13th Iran attack on Israel, the US, Israel’s most powerful ally, chose not to engage in the conflict.
“We believe Israel has freedom of action to protect itself and defend itself, in Syria or elsewhere,” asserted a senior Biden administration official, “That’s a long-standing policy and that remains, but no, we would not envision ourselves participating in such a thing.”
READ: Netanyahu “determined” to continue Rafah assault, snubs Biden
Moreover, in a phone call on April 4th, US President Joe Biden informed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that US support would depend on improved conditions in Gaza.
“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.”
“He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps”, stated the White House National Security Communications Advisor.
Neverthless, Chikli’s statement regarding the upcoming elections received significant backlash.
US’ former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren claimed that the minister’s comments were “harmful to Israel’s security, the US relationship with American Jews and ungrateful for the financial, strategic, and diplomatic support which Israel has recently received from the United States”.
In fact, the US Congress had shortly approved a $26 billion bill to support Israel and provide humanitarian relief to people in Gaza when the statement was released.
The New Arab and agencies
