Benyamin Netanyahu again freezes Joe Biden by opening a new clash with the USA over the war in Gaza.
In fact, if the American president had defined the creation of a Palestinian state as "not impossible" , the Israeli prime minister, evidently irritated by the leaked indiscretions, replied that there could never be Palestinian sovereignty of Abu Mazen's PNA in the Strip , because it would clash with the security needs of the Jewish state.
" Israel - Netanyahu's office clarified - must maintain full control of the security of the Strip to ensure that Gaza no longer represents a threat, and this is in conflict with the request for Palestinian sovereignty."
While a raid attributed to Israel killed 5 Iranian Pasdaran in Damascus - including the intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria and his deputy -, Netanyahu stated that his position has been "consistent" for years and also reiterated in the press conference held the day before the conversation with Biden.
However, the prime minister appears increasingly isolated on the international scene and beyond. Protests against his government are also spreading within the country: thousands of people marched in Tel Aviv calling for the dissolution of the Knesset and Netanyahu's resignation.
On Friday evening a similar demonstration took place in Caesarea, near the prime minister's house, with the families of the hostages making the same demands. And the turmoil in the Likud is only increasing.
On the international front, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres branded as "unacceptable the rejection of the two-state solution and the denial of the right to a state for the Palestinian people". "This - observed the head of the United Nations - would indefinitely prolong the conflict, which has become a serious threat to global peace and security, exacerbate polarization and encourage extremists everywhere."
The same tone was expressed by EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who actually went further by accusing the Netanyahu government of having "funded Hamas in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority".
In the United States, the disappointment with the right-wing Israeli government is clear: 60 democratic deputies have asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reset relations with the Jerusalem government, which is deaf to any requests from the US administration.
(Unioneonline/vl)
