Biden’s team has serious doubts about cooperating with Netanyahu
The election results in Israel are not at all in line with the plans and desires of the American President and his team. What has happened, first and foremost, is the return of Benjamin Netanyahu, which is one of the worst events for this team in the Middle East, and now what was previously imaginable has happened.
A coalition cabinet with the presence of dangerous extremists whose plans and ideas pose a serious threat to that government and the Middle East. If previously it was expected that dissatisfaction with the election result and the unwillingness to closely cooperate with Netanyahu and his government would be expressed behind the scenes and in unofficial interactions between the US and Israel, now this dissatisfaction has become public.
The main danger for the future of the occupied territories is the presence of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the right-wing Israeli extremists, in the cabinet. Although the composition of Netanyahu’s government is not yet clear, Ben-Gvir’s demand from Netanyahu is the Ministry of Internal Security of Israel, to which Bibi has given the green light.
This ministry is responsible for internal security, police control of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Arab-populated areas, the treatment of Arab and non-Arab citizens under the Israeli government, and security cooperation with various countries.
Antony Blinken had warned the Israeli President during his visit to the US that cooperation with someone like Ben-Gvir is almost ruled out.
Concerns about Netanyahu’s cabinet are not new. Long before the elections and during the visit of American senators to the occupied territories, Senator Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had warned Netanyahu not to include Ben-Gvir and his allies in his cabinet.
