I feel like it should be noted that the western pressure campaign to get rid of Netanyahu forced him to rely even more on people like Ben Gvir and other Hadreem, which allowed them to extract concessions in regards to expanding the settlements.
Like just from a place of pure competency it was an awful strategy. If Schumer has said something like “Israel has a right to defend itself, but the US refuses to help the IDF so long as they violate court orders and refuse to draft Hadreem” Bibi would have been gone.
I just don’t get the sense that the US State Department has a fundamental understanding of Israeli Politics, or the internal politics of most middle eastern nations. Without that knowledge projecting soft power becomes so much harder.
“The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate, and the Palestinians say they are the main barrier to a lasting peace agreement. But with more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, it will be difficult – some say impossible – to partition the territory as part of a two-state solution.”
So fucking kick them out, they are there illegally by international law. Settler ass holes.
Israel HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF!
THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW!
(I guess those downvoting you haven’t seen you around yet, they didn’t catch the sarcasm lol)