Netanyahu’s stance on Ukraine.
According to Al Jazeera, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a stance on the relations between Tel Aviv and Washington and revealed the existence of differences between the parties.
Referring to Tel Aviv’s strong relations with Washington, he said at the same time: Our relations with America are unbreakable, but this does not mean that there are no differences. You should ask Biden about my non-travel to Washington, but this will not create an obstacle to strong communication and cooperation between the two sides.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu answered the question, “Do you think you will be able to go to the White House soon?” He said: I am sure (of this), but this is a question you should ask President Biden directly. This does not stop us and does not prevent us from communicating very closely, we cooperate and have the largest joint military exercise between Israel and the US military in our history. I think this is going very positively.
He added: “Again, there are things we disagree about and I don’t hide them.” People know my views, but you can have it between independent parties and between allies.
In response to the question, “So when you say that transparency will increase with the Biden administration, does that mean that you will not have surprises as the previous administration stated?”, Netanyahu replied: “When I said that we deal with each other transparently.” I meant that we tell each other our positions very clearly. As much as you say “no surprises”…I never agree with that. The reason is that I want to preserve Israel’s freedom in practice.
He continued: In fact, when I met with Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, he asked me about this. I told him, “Look, on the question of what Israel will or won’t do against Iran, as you know, sometimes we tell you and sometimes we don’t. “I’m very clear about the fact that we’re not going to be very transparent.” People laughed, but it wasn’t a joke, I said it honestly, I believe that the American government is completely open to us on these matters, we understand that we have differences of opinion, but we also understand that we can resolve differences. restrain ourselves, but Israel will retain its freedom to act against Iran as it sees fit.
Netanyahu claimed: Whether Iran and America reach an agreement or not, Israel will maintain its freedom of action.
He also said about Ukraine: Our situation with Ukraine is different from Western countries because we have interactions with Russia in Syria.
Netanyahu claimed: “We are also worried that the systems and equipment that we transfer to Ukraine will be used against us and fall into the hands of Iran. This is not only a theoretical possibility, but the Western anti-tank weapons that have been sent to Ukraine, now we have them in the hands of Iran.” We observe the proximity of our borders.
He said that the sight of Western weapons near the occupied territories shows Tel Aviv’s correct position regarding the war in Ukraine.
Netanyahu claimed: “It is important to maintain our freedom of action in flying over Syria in order to prevent Iran from concentrating near us.”