“The Americans believe that this is a war for [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and not for the State of Israel,” Israel’s former ambassador to Washington Dr. Michael Oren explained in an interview with Radio North 104.5FM.
Oren added: “This is a war for our existence of all our people. No one is demanding a ceasefire, which is what the Americans want – they don’t want the IDF to enter Rafah. This is understandable because there are elections there, so there is a lot of opposition.”
The former ambassador also referred to the scenario of the cessation of military aid and the supply of arms to Israel: “We will fight with sticks and stones. We can get along better with the Americans, but it’s not that we don’t have options. It was a shock in the US [that we criticized US actions] because anyone who criticizes [US President Joe] Biden, even if he is respectable, is considered a [Donald] Trump supporter.
Trump also hates Netanyahu and does not forgive him for congratulating Biden when he was elected. He also criticizes us. There is no pro-Israeli option here. I don’t know, and neither does he, what his policy will be.”
Regarding Biden, Oren said: “Really, compared to other people, there’s [not a lot bad to say about him], he pays a price for helping us. Decisions were made to force a ceasefire on us and Biden vetoed it, he saved us.”
As for Israeli public relations in the world, Oren explained: “There is a lot of failure. We don’t invest in it and we don’t see it as a battlefield in the war, but it is one.”
Oren: US believes there is a State of Lebanon, Israel believes there is a State of Hezbollah
At the end of the interview, he referred to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s visit to Washington: “They will talk about ammunition, this comes against the backdrop of a global shortage of ammunition due to the war in Ukraine.
“Secondly, they will talk about the northern front. If it is not possible [to force Hezbollah] to withdraw, then what kind of buffer will come between us and Hezbollah? The Americans believe in the State of Lebanon and that there is an army there, but for us there is no distinction. We believe there is a State of Hezbollah there.”
