Opposition leader Yair Lapid has commented on deteriorating relations with Washington
Former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid has reportedly warned that his country’s relations with the US have deteriorated so much under the leadership of his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Washington is “no longer our closest ally.”
Lapid made his comments on Monday at a faction meeting of his Yesh Atid opposition party, according to the Times of Israel. He has argued that Netanyahu’s government is destroying the alliance with the US by trying to pass controversial judicial reforms.
“The Israeli government is leading us into this crisis, making the biggest and most dramatic changes to the regime in our history, without holding a single discussion — not even one — about the economic, security, social and political consequences of the move,” Lapid said. In a Channel 12 news interview, he argued that the nation was being “torn in two.”
“The Americans say they have no shared values with this government. It affects every aspect of US-Israel relations – their attention and their willingness to leave their comfort zone for Israeli interests. They will not do it for the most extreme government in the country’s history,” Lapid said, describing relations with the US as being at a historic low.
US President Joe Biden said in March that he was “very concerned” about Israel’s democracy amid months of protests over the proposed judicial overhaul. “I’m concerned they get this straight,” he said at the time. “They cannot continue down this road.”
Netanyahu responded by saying Israel was a sovereign country and made decisions by the will of its people, “not based on pressures from abroad.” His national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said Biden “needs to understand that Israel is no longer a star on the US flag. We are a democracy, and I expect the US president to understand that.”
More recently, the Biden administration criticized West Jerusalem’s approval for a Jewish-only settlement in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this month, Biden blasted the Israeli government’s cabinet as “extreme” and “part of the problem” in the Palestinian conflict.
On Monday, however, Biden issued a long-delayed invitation for Netanyahu to visit the White House later this year. Netanyahu spent 12 years as Israeli prime minister before a coalition led by Lapid ousted him from power in June 2021. He returned to office after winning the December 2022 election, the fifth parliamentary vote in four years.
https://www.rt.com/news/579873-israel-us-closest-ally-lapid/
Mohsen Rezaee, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, has said preconditions include reparations and security guarantees
For the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US to conclude, the latter must withdraw its military forces from the Persian Gulf, according to a member of the advisory board of Iran’s supreme leader.
Mohsen Rezaee, a retired major general and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), added that Tehran would also seek full restitution for the damage done and ironclad security guarantees from Washington.
In an interview with Iran’s SNN TV broadcaster published on Saturday, the member of the Expediency Discernment Council said that the “presence of the US in the Persian Gulf has been the main cause of insecurity over the past 50 years.”
“The end of the war is also in our hands,” Rezaee claimed, naming the “US withdrawal from the Persian Gulf” among the key prerequisites. Additionally, Iran expects to receive reparations from the ...
The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has accused the United States and Israel of deploying a rebranded copy of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, designated “Lucas,” to carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure in regional countries as part of a deliberate false-flag operation aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.
In an official statement released today, the spokesman explained that after suffering military setbacks on the battlefield and failing to build political coalitions against Iran, the enemy has resorted to deception.
The statement specifically warned that the objective of these operations is to “create doubt and accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran” while sowing discord between Tehran and its neighbors, thereby undermining the legitimacy of Iran’s defensive actions.
The spokesman pointed to a series of “suspicious attacks” in recent days on facilities in friendly neighboring countries, including Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq, which Western media outlets and hostile ...
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced the execution of the 51st wave of Operation True Promise 4, launching missile strikes against US military installations across the region in retaliation for ongoing American-Israeli aggression against the country.
The IRGC announced the latest wave was carried out using a combination of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles against US terrorist army forces at the Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
According to the IRGC statement, Al Kharj base served as the "origin of aggressions against the Islamic homeland," functioning as the staging ground for US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets involved in attacks on Iran.
The base also houses fuel supply aircraft and serves as the main hub for American AWACS surveillance planes.
Concurrently, the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the fiftieth wave of the operation struck multiple US terrorist army bases.
They include the Al Dhafra Air Base and Fujairah in the UAE, Jufair in ...
