How Israel's political upset impacts US relations
The Israeli Defense Minister sought a reaffirmation of U.S. security commitments to Israel on Thursday as the country weathers its greatest domestic political upheaval in years and the aftermath of last month's war with Hamas militants in Gaza. (June 3)
Video Transcript
ELLEN KNICKMEYER: And Benjamin Netanyahu has been prime minister for 12 years. And he's been a force in US foreign policy and politics as well. He's been very hands on in working with US politicians and US administrations and very clear in what he wants from US policy. So the new government that is trying to come in-- it's not at all certain yet that it will happen. But it would be a very broad coalition of a range of parties and beliefs.
NATAN SACHS: The Americans-- it's a bit complicated. Naftali Bennett is from the far right. We shouldn't equivocate about this. He is ideologically and very openly opposed to the two state solution. He rejects that completely. He has been the most important contemporary advocate of annexing large parts of the West Bank to Israel. In that regard, he's certainly from the far right and very different from the positions of the Biden administration.
Other members of the coalition, however, in particular the next foreign minister, if they succeed, Yair Lapid, and the defense minister who'd continue, Benny Gantz-- these are much more in line with figures that America knows how to deal with. They are at least ostensibly protists state solution in favor of a much more sort of moderate approach on things that the Washington administration today is much more comfortable with.
ELLEN KNICKMEYER: US support for Israel's right to defend itself as the US braces itself and Israel's security is unwavering. And that has been a staple part of US foreign policy for decades. And there's no sign that that's going to lessen. And so the Biden administration is saying that it will continue to support Iron Dome and Israeli security overall. It is trying to call attention to some peace efforts overall and asking Israel and Hamas to avoid anything that will touch off more violence.
NATAN SACHS: And, of course, for the new government, the Palestinian issue-- they hope it remains on the back burner. And to be honest, for the Biden administration, that would be beneficial as well. They have such a very long agenda starting with domestic issues, massive domestic issues, and structural changes they want to make in the United States. But even in foreign policy-- China, Russia-- loom much larger. And in the Middle East, the Iran question is much bigger.
Nonetheless, whether the Israelis and the Americans like it or not, the Palestinian issue can come back. We saw that just last month. But we should not underestimate the significance of simply a functioning government in terms of domestic affairs, not only on economics and health and other very important issues, but also on questions of Jewish Arab coexistence and trying to mend some of the fences that have been damaged quite severely even just last month.
So in that regard, it would be a new chapter, a very dramatic change from a long Netanyahu era, assuming that it doesn't come back soon, which he might. But in terms of foreign policy, it may not seem as dramatic as it was during the Netanyahu era.
