“Biden realized that Netanyahu was lying to him about the hostages,” the official told Haaretz. “He’s not saying it publicly yet, but in the meeting between them, he specifically told him, ‘Stop bullshitting me.’”
On Friday, a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team told Haaretz that Israeli defense chiefs believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in a hostage deal/cease-fire with Hamas. Israel’s Channel 12 also reported on a tense exchange between Netanyahu and the defense chiefs, in which Shin Bet head Ronen Bar said, “It feels like the prime minister doesn’t want the framework that’s on the table.” Turning to Netanyahu, he added that if that is the case, “you should tell us.”
Mossad chief David Barnea stressed to Netanyahu, “There is a deal on the table. If we delay, we could miss the opportunity. We have to take it.” Netanyahu, per the report, reacted angrily, accusing the defense chiefs of being “soft.”
Over the course of the Genocide the notion that we really want israel to exist as a strategic ally has started to look extremely wonky to me.
Looking at previous history as well, I have concluded the “strategic partner” narrative is purely an excuse for israeli lobbyists. Such as the best funded lobbyist for israel
That is absolutely a factor, but there are also absolutely people who view this as an important part of American power projection. While I don’t think that supporting Israel has been making the US stronger in this era, it has historically been a key strategic location due to how close it is to the suez and global oil trade.
It is darkly funny how cheaply American politicians can be bought, meanwhile we shovel endless piles of money to Israel, which it then uses to shore up political support for continuing to send them money and ammunition.
Egypt controls Suez though. We just overthrew their government and installed Sisi as a dictator to control it. Israel had little to do with that. Same with Iraq. We use Saudi Arabia as a base.
Israel as a strategic partner is a great excuse on the surface because really blurs the line of the true motive. But in reality we now see America supporting israeli actions which are contradictory to our interests in the region (unless we really want WW3). Having a strategic partner requires that partner to obey you, not the other way around
I’m not gonna start debating you on this, I was referring to the historical reason for the occupation of Palestine, quoting Churchill:
There was no AIPAC then, unless you’re suggesting that there was some other lobbying at play.
US strategic planners wanted Israel because it’s an unsinkable aircraft carrier parked right next to the Suez (among other things). That doesn’t mean that it’s actually useful at the end of the day, but that’s absolutely the stated logic behind things.
