U.S. will maintain ‘partnership’ with Israel despite differences: Blinken – National | 24CA News
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Sunday the U.S. won’t shrink from its unwavering assist for Israel regardless of stark variations with Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu and considerations the Biden administration could have about potential members of his incoming right-wing authorities.
Speaking to a left-leaning group that some on the suitable accuse of being too sympathetic to the Palestinians and Iran, Blinken stated the United States will stay a stalwart good friend of Israel even because it pursues targets that Netanyahu has opposed, together with a two-state decision to the Israeli-Palestinian battle and a restoration of the languishing 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The U.S.-Israel “partnership — and all that it’s produced for the people of our nations and the world — has always been underwritten by the United States ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, a commitment that has never been stronger than it is today,” he stated.
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Blinken stated the Biden administration would interact with Netanyahu’s authorities primarily based on its insurance policies and never on personalities, together with potential senior Cabinet ministers who’ve expressed vehement anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab views previously.
But, Blinken additionally warned that the U.S. would object to insurance policies that marginalize the Palestinians, diminish their “horizon for hope,” or make a two-state decision harder. He stated these can be detrimental to Israel’s long-term safety or future as a Jewish democratic state.
“We expect the new Israeli government to continue to work with us to advance our shared values, just as we have previous governments,” he stated.
“We will gauge the government by the policies it pursues rather than individual personalities. We will hold it to the mutual standards we have established in our relationship over the past seven decades,” Blinken stated.
U.S. officers have beforehand expressed considerations in regards to the potential positions in Netanyahu’s authorities of no less than two right-wing Israeli politicians: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Ben-Gvir, a lawmaker recognized for anti-Arab vitriol and provocative stunts, has been provided the job of nationwide safety minister, a strong place that can put him in command of Israel’s police drive. Meanwhile, Smotrich, chief of the Religious Zionism occasion, which shares anti-Palestinian and anti-gay views, has been provided oversight over the Israeli company for Palestinian civil affairs.
Blinken famous that the U.S.-Israel relationship is seven a long time outdated and the Biden administration would “speak honestly” with the brand new Israeli authorities in addition to the Palestinians, whose leaders he stated should additionally chorus from elevating tensions that endanger a two-state resolution.
He identified that the Biden administration continues to assist its predecessor’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and is working to develop former President Donald Trump’s “Abraham Accords” that noticed a number of Arab nations normalize relations with Israel. He lauded the current completion of a maritime border accord between Israel and Lebanon.
Blinken’s feedback got here on the annual convention of J Street, a pro-Israel group that has distinguished itself from the a lot bigger and older American Israel Public Affairs Committee by advancing positions typically supported by the Democratic occasion.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
