How to understand Barak Ravid's revelations about the relationship between former US President Donald Trump and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Typical "
In the summer of 2019, Israel prevented the entry of anti-Semitic members of Congress Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar into the country. This is because the two legislators, denying Israel the right to exist, intended to take advantage of their visit to promote the boycott campaign against the state.
The government decision was the watershed in dealing with progressive / Islamic anti-Semitism.
Ravid, however, treated it as picantry.
Netanyahu only banned their entry because Trump pressured him, he claimed.
It had nothing to do with the fight against anti-Semitism and the attempt to exclude two legislatures that work to promote anti-Semitism in the United States and erode American support for Israel. Netanyahu just wanted to please Trump.
But if Trump's curses can be put in Ravid's so-called "little jugs (drawers)", Trump's remarks about Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on the one hand, and Netanyahu on the other - can not be dismissed. Trump likened Abbas to his late father. , And said that Netanyahu refused peace (unlike the "general" Benny Gantz, who according to Trump was willing to make a deal with Abbas).
Peace Camp
The question is what do we learn from things?
Trump's remarks do not change history.
Trump was the most pro-Israel president we ever knew.
The same Trump who saw Abbas as a father figure withdrew funding for the PA and closed the PLO mission in Washington because Abbas "fathered" financed and incited terrorism.
And of course, he moved the embassy to Jerusalem.
He recognized the legality of Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria.
Trump, who thought Netanyahu did not want peace, halted the transfer of funds to UNRWA because it supports terrorism and disqualified U.S. members of the UN Human Rights Council because it is an antisemitic body. He left the nuclear deal with Iran, recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
The things Trump said to Ravid do not change the record. But they do explain to us something important about the way Israel led by Netanyahu achieved all this good from President Trump. First of all, when it comes to Israel, the situation in Trump's White House was much more complicated than it seemed on the outside. Trump's attitude toward Israel was generally positive, as he testified before Ravid. But politically, he swayed. There were very many powerful people around Trump who pulled him in different directions.
There were those who told him that Netanyahu was hostile to peace; And that the PLO leader denies the Holocaust and finances and instigates terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas, a peace seeker.
Among the "peace camp" were, among others, First Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and State Department officials, First Secretary of Defense James Matisse and members of the General Staff, CIA leaders, and more. Who organized his meeting with Abbas - also supported this approach.
Opposite these powerful elements was the second, not insignificant camp, whose members strongly supported a strong alliance between Israel and the United States. David Friedman, the envoy to the Middle East (until the end of 2019) Jason Greenblatt, most of the members of the Republican factions in both houses of Congress, and tens of millions of evangelical Christians.
Like Trump himself, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and closest adviser, was fundamentally pro-Israel, but blabbered on between the camps.
The dispute between the parties was open.
For example, Tillerson and Matisse opposed moving the embassy to Jerusalem and withdrawing from the nuclear deal with Iran.
War on every inch
And that brings us to the second insight from the Ravid recordings.
The Israeli prime minister never stood in front of an empty gate in front of which he could do whatever he pleased, whether it was a goal for the left corner or the beams.
Every pro-Israel move taken by Trump came after a difficult struggle whose end was not at all guaranteed.
This is how the sovereignty plan was revealed in Torpedo in the 90th minute.
Israel did not win all the struggles.
Netanyahu did not wait on the sidelines.
From Ravid's recordings, we discover that Netanyahu is fighting for every inch of his political power.
Nothing came easily.
In most cases, Netanyahu succeeded because he knew how to act correctly, quietly and stubbornly, in front of the right people at the right time.
The torpedoing of the sovereignty program is being revealed right now these days as a cry for generations.
Today, when the Bennett-Lapid-Bar-Lev government sends police reinforcements to Judea and Samaria to combat the imaginary violence of Jewish citizens, the historical dimensions of the miss are becoming clearer.
And there are culprits in this
miss.
The role played by these so-called "settlement leaders", led by Yesha Council Chairman David Elhayeni and Samaria Council Chairman Yossi Dagan. Their opposition to the plan greatly confused the evangelical leaders. Should they fight for a plan that the settlement leaders called anti-Israel? They did not want to harm the people of Israel, which is why Trump killed the plan.
Another lesson from Ravid's exposures is the depth and breadth of support for Israel among Republicans.
Trump won the almost unanimous support of his party's voters and electors for every pro-Israel move he took.
In the face of the Republicans' deep support for Israel, there is a democratic party, which, from election to election, is becoming increasingly hostile to Israel.
In the 2020 election, the antisemitic gang of Omar and Talib tripled their power.
As a source who accompanied Defense Minister Ganz to Washington testified, the administration sees settlement in Judea and Samaria as an equally threatening factor as the Iranian nuclear program.
Judging by the Biden administration's actions for Iran, on the one hand, and hostile to Israel on the other, they are more hostile to settlement in Judea and Samaria than to the Iranian nucleus. Takes.
Ravid sees Trump and Netanyahu, who together changed the face of the region, as passionate politicians.
And in the end he is right.
They were and remain politicians.
Ravid's revelations undoubtedly strengthened Netanyahu among right-wing voters.
As for Trump, days will tell.
Were we wrong?
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