The new head of Israeli diplomacy Yair Lapid pledged Monday (June 14th) to improve dialogue with the American Democratic Party and European countries, qualifying these relations respectively as “
dangerous
” and “
hostile
” under Benjamin Netanyahu.
To read also: In Israel, Yaïr Lapid, architect of the fall of "Bibi"
In power in Israel from spring 2009 to Sunday, June 13, Benjamin Netanyahu maintained stormy relations with US President Barack Obama, but more than cordial with his successor, Republican Donald Trump, who has repeatedly been called a "
best friend
" than the Hebrew state has never had the White House. "
The management of the relationship with the Democratic Party in the United States has been reckless and dangerous (...), the government (Netanyahu) made a terrible, reckless and dangerous bet by focusing exclusively on the Republican Party in order to abandon Israel's bi-partisan approach
, ”Yair Lapid said at a ceremony in Jerusalem marking his entry into Foreign Affairs.
Yaïr Lapid considered "
important
" the support of "
Christian evangelists
" but "
more important
" the good understanding between the different currents of Judaism (reformist, conservative, orthodox).
He succeeds Gabi Ashkenazi, a former head of the Israeli army appointed chief diplomat in spring 2020 in a power-sharing agreement between the Netanyahu camp and opposition parties.
Gabi Askhenazi did
his best to improve things but was in the wrong government
, said Yaïr Lapid.
“
Neglected
”
relations
with EU countries
As early as Sunday evening, he met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. Yaïr Lapid also said he had "
exchanged messages
" with his "
friend
", French President Emmanuel Macron. “
Our relations with the countries of the European Union are not good enough, our relations with too many governments have been neglected and have become hostile. Shouting that everyone is anti-Semitic is not a policy or a work program, even if sometimes that seems right,
”said the new minister.
Benyamin Netanyahu had notably qualified as "
anti-Semitic
" the decision of the International Criminal Court to open an investigation for possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories and had castigated European countries for promoting a dialogue - and not a campaign of maximum pressure - with Iran. "
We must quickly prepare for a return to the Iran nuclear deal
," Yair Lapid warned, adding, however, "
that Israel will do everything in its power to prevent Iran from obtaining the nuclear bomb
".
