[Salon] Is Netanyahu waiting for Trump as Israel's Ben-Gvir sabotages Biden? - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012
Subject: [Salon] Is Netanyahu waiting for Trump as Israel's Ben-Gvir sabotages Biden? - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012
Title: Is Netanyahu waiting for Trump as Israel's Ben-Gvir sabotages Biden? - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012
I hope its been noticed that I'm on the opposite side of the NatCons/New Right, and their “publicists,” at the New Right think tank, Quincy Institute, and of The American Conservative magazine. And their associated groups listed in Project 2025, and of the politicians they so zealously support such as Josh Hawley, J.D. Vance, Trump, DeSantis (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article288422715.html
Quote: "DeSantis also linked the protest groups to Hamas and called attention to a chant frequently repeated at protests across the state and country — “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” (TP-That’s what Netanyahu recently said, for when Palestine is ethnically cleansed of Palestinians!)
. . . Fakhoury said many of the protesters are Jewish and felt the governor ignored parts of history.”
That latter point is in the Right-wing Revisionist Tradition, we’ve seen so much of here.
But I’m a volunteer attorney for defending these “terrorist students” (sarcasm), and the true “root” of the problem is all the Republican Party/Trump/Vance, incitement of genocide by their Israeli coalition partners. This article provides some good information but it doesn’t address the Israeli/US “Military Tech Industrial Complex, as personified by Peter Thiel and Charles Koch. But it makes a critical point: “follow the money.” And where does their money go? To our favorite New Right/NatCon think tanks for their “mass consciousness activities.”
"As always, it’s prudent to heed the call to “follow the money.” A research initiative recently launched by the Adalah Justice Project, or AJP; the Action Center on Race and the Economy, or ACRE; and Little Sis offers a compelling case for why so many of these institutions have refused to speak out against the slaughter of Palestinians and been so quick to suppress antiwar voices."
I have been saying for years now that U.S. allies (the “Right") of the Israeli fascist, self-identified “Conservatives” heading the genocide/expansionist Israeli effort are going all-out to get Trump elected because Trump shares the Israeli fascist's political theory (ideology): https://www.vox.com/21355993/trump-israel-yoram-hazony-nationalism-tikvah.
Therefore, because his election will advance the “National Conservative Revolution” underway in many countries, with Trump/Vance their main banner carrier in the U.S., a lot rides on it, to include personal power by their elite with positions waiting for so many of them in a Trump administration. As a start to see who will be holding many positions in a Trump administration, one need only look to the rosters of past National Conservative conferences, including this in 2024: https://nationalconservatism.org/natcon-4-2024/. I have a good guess who might be named White House National Security Communications Advisor, after performing such loyal service to Trump, Vance, and the New Right.
Cross-check that NatCon list with the Quincy Institute/TAC events featuring so many New Right/NatCon speakers, and you know who have a virtual lock on positions in a Vance/Adelson/Trump/administration. In fact, Vance/Ramaswamy/Curt Mills, went from the Quincy/TAC event in May, to the NatCon event in June, and see what that got Vance!
I wouldn’t bet against Israeli Far-Right Settler Yoram Hazony being named U.S. Ambassador to Israel by Vance, to follow in the path of Trump’s previous Settler Ambassador, David Friedman. Unless Hazony would want an even higher ranking position to advance Israel’s “interests” from, in a Vance/Adelson/Trump “interests-based” foreign policy, “for the Middle Class,” with Israel the intended primary beneficiary/partner to a Vance/Adelson/Trump administration.
Making of this: "One year after Gaza, US complicity: if you are going to watch one thing today on you tube, make it this one. and please share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGqNfaVWiis,” a classic example of “propaganda by omission.” I leave it for others to decide whether working so vigorously for the election of Trump knowing his constant incitement of Israeli genocide, becomes in itself complicity to genocide. At least morally, if one wants go by Nuremberg precedent in the case of Julius Streicher, and in a German court, Hans Fritzshe, when one considers what a Trump administration means for Israel getting the green-light to “take the gloves off” with his election. With Trump already having established he will attack any and all International courts that have the temerity to even suggest investigating Israel for war crimes: https://www.axios.com/2020/06/11/international-criminal-court-trump-israel.
Of course, Biden/Harris make such distinctions difficult as they too are complicit in Israeli genocide, as is House Speaker Mike Johnson who gave Netanyahu a platform for his demand for support of his ongoing genocide, aimed to put pressure on the Democrats to keep pressure on Biden, as the Republicans don’t need any encouragement to support Israel 100%, regardless of its war crimes, big or small.
Trump and his partner Adelson make clear at these two links why the Right, to include libertarians, and Conservatives of all stripes, must get behind Trump, in order to get their Coalition (to include Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, . . . ) in the White House again.
BLUF: "President Donald Trump’s speech last night was a tour de force in support of the Jewish community and Israel, as we collectively face some of the darkest days in modern Jewish history.
"From start to finish, President Trump received countless standing ovations as he promised to: (open link above).
BLUF: "Adelson, the wife of the late gaming magnate Sheldon Adelson and an ardent supporter of her native Israel, has been among the chief financiers of Trump’s political ambitions.
"Since 2016, the Adelsons have given hundreds of millions of dollars to super PACs supporting Trump. They were rewarded well by him in the White House — Trump accomplished a number of the Israel lobby’s goals, including moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,recognizingthe Golan Heights as being part of Israel andwithdrawingfrom the Iran nuclear deal. In 2018, Trumpawarded Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
. . .
"In her speech, Adelson told attendees that Jews have a “sacred duty” to vote for Trump, “in gratitude for everything he has done and trust in everything he will yet do.”
Is Netanyahu waiting for Trump as Israel's Ben-Gvir sabotages Biden?
Israel's Prime Minister stays mum, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ruins the country's relations with its greatest ally, the United States.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu during an arrival outside the West Wing of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC.
— Alex Wong/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu during an arrival outside the West Wing of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC.
— Alex Wong/Getty Images
TEL AVIV — It was a well-executed commando operation against the enemy's rear guard. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, shunned by the US administration for his extremist ultranationalist views, suggested in an extensive interview on Sunday that US President Joe Biden was aiding Hamas.
“Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with giving humanitarian aid and fuel [to Gaza], which goes to Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said, giving his first interview to a foreign news outlet since taking office over a year ago. “If [former President Donald] Trump was in power, the US conduct would be completely different," Ben-Gvir told the Wall Street Journal.
Ben-Gvir's assault took place even as Biden was directing intense efforts to overcome congressional opposition to more than $14 billion in special military aid for Israel. Republicans, perhaps acting on behalf of Trump, are opposed to the package for various reasons, some to do with domestic policy and political issues. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region this week seeking "an enduring end" to the Israel-Hamas war that would see a pause in hostilities, freedom for Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and increased aid for the Gaza Strip. Cabinet hard-liners in Israel are vehemently opposed to the US proposals.
While Ben-Gvir has built his career and popular support on inflammatory and outlandish remarks and actions, his boss — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — shows no signs of reining him in. Rather than reprimanding or even firing him for insulting Israel’s greatest ally on whom the country relies heavily for its survival, Netanyahu seems to prefer his personal political survival. Without mentioning Ben-Gvir’s name, Netanyahu told his government ministers at their weekly Sunday meeting, "I don't need help managing relations with the United States."
'2 Benjamin Netanyahus'
In parallel, in a display of cowardice, Netanyahu sent his close associate, Knesset member Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, to issue a bilingual tweet, in Hebrew and English, thanking Biden effusively for all his help and praising him as a great friend of the Jews in modern times. "The people of Israel will forever remember you for standing with Israel during some of our toughest hours. You and America are kingdoms of kindness," wrote Deri. Officials in Washington didn't know whether to laugh or cry, or put an end to the Biden administration's collective torment at the hands of the hard-liners in the Netanyahu cabinet, throw up their hands in defeat and throw Netanyahu under the bus.
Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk once offered an accurate description of the Israeli prime minister, saying that there are, in fact, two Benjamin Netanyahus. Throughout his life, Netanyahu has maneuvered between two opposing personalities. One is that of a pragmatic leader intent on ensuring a safe haven for the Jewish people through compromise and reconciliation. The other is of a gloomy ideologue rejecting every hand outstretched in peace and being dragged into an abyss by nationalist and messianic forces that terrorize him. The latter appear to have greatly weakened the more pragmatic leader of old.
Was Ben-Gvir's Wall Street Journal interview coordinated with Netanyahu? Both sides vehemently deny this, but the conspiracy theory has some merit. Netanyahu has long been playing a double game. On the one hand, he is an enthusiastic participant in the complex US-orchestrated process of seeking normalization with Saudi Arabia and regional stability. His close associate and confidant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, is engaged in this endeavor 24/7. At the same time, Netanyahu continues to kowtow to the extremists in his government on whom he is dependent for his hold on power.
Waiting on Trump
"Netanyahu doesn't really want Biden to achieve normalization. He suspects that Biden is trying to dismantle his government by achieving a hostage deal [with Hamas] and the cessation of hostilities in Gaza. Netanyahu prefers to wait for Trump. If he manages to push the deal until after the elections, it will help him rehabilitate relations with Trump if and when he returns to the White House," a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. The once close relations between the two men soured after Trump lost his reelection bid.
The question is, why does Netanyahu believe he can remain in office until Trump reenters the White House? "He's just playing for time," a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "This is his clearest specialty. He will continue the war in Gaza and maybe even go for a limited round in the north, so that the government will hold out in its current format, try to hold out until the US elections."
Meanwhile, the Ben-Gvir family continues to fuel the flames. In a Tuesday post on the X platform, the minister’s son, Shuvael Ben-Gvir, implied that Biden is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He posted a photo of Biden, writing underneath it “in these difficult times it is important to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease that is the most common cause of cognitive decline and dementia.” The post was quickly deleted and Ben-Gvir Sr. immediately issued a long and detailed apology. His son also offered an apology, posting, "Sorry, President Biden."
'Familiar pattern'
But the message got through and the damage was done. "This behavior is typical of the Netanyahu family," a senior coalition source told Al-Monitor. "It’s a familiar pattern. Yair Netanyahu tweets what the family really thinks, and his father is quick to correct and apologize. Apparently, the Ben-Gvir family has adopted this pattern."
One way or another, the hostage release deal that the US, Israeli and Egyptian intelligence agencies cobbled together with the Qatari prime minister is much further away than it appeared last week. Hamas has yet to provide a detailed answer to the proposals, and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is reportedly unwilling to enter into any deal with Israel without receiving guarantees that Israel has ended its war against his organization, a guarantee that no Israeli government can provide.
Sinwar himself continues his quest for survival in Gaza’s underground city. Israeli forces are said to have reached the tunnel where Sinwar is believed to have been hiding out for the past two weeks. "We are getting closer to him all the time," a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, while a war cabinet minister told Al-Monitor, "Right now we are closer to Sinwar than to a hostage release deal."