“Israel has every right to attack Iran and no one would be upset,” the Republican candidate said. Donald Trumpon a conservative American radio station. The former president is a man with few phobias about the international stage and with deep admiration for autocrats like Kim, XI either Poutinethat is to say, for everything his country has been fighting against for decades. However, if there is a foreign country for which he feels a particular affection, it is Iran.
Iran has been the focus of many of his attacks during the four years of his presidency: he has distanced himself from Obama of control of the nuclear program in exchange for improvements in conventional weapons and ordered in the first person the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport. Soleimini was the head of the Quds Force, the elite corps of the Revolutionary Guards, and was considered by many to be the Iranian regime’s number two, the Ayatollah’s right-hand man. Ali Khameneieven in front of the president Hassan Rouhani.
The attack was such that Khamenei vowed revenge against the United States and launched a series of attacks on American bases in Iraq. Days later, in his weekly prayer, he called Trump a “clown” and a “coward.” The billionaire used in response a resource similar to the one he has used these days Netanyahu: support the Iranian resistance from social networks and assure them that the White House will stand with them against Islamist oppression.
And relations between Netanyahu and Trump have always been good, perhaps because the Likud leader also represents a strong and determined figure when it comes to achieving his goals. Their only misunderstanding occurred when Netanyahu refused to collaborate on Trump’s conspiracy theory after the 2020 election and recognized Biden as the rightful winner. In comments collected by the journalist Barak Ravid in his book Trump’s peacethe former president explained his relationship with the Israeli Prime Minister as follows: “I liked Bibi, I still like him, but I like loyalty more (…) I don’t care about him”.
Netanyahu “votes” Republican
As Netanyahu’s recent visit to the United States on the occasion of his speech to the United Nations showed, the friendship is once again in its best condition. Ultimately, they both have the same enemy: the Democratic Party. In Tel Aviv, this statement was not at all popular. Kamala Harris last weekend during which he displayed his solidarity with the Lebanese people without mentioning Hezbollah. There is nothing scandalous strictly speaking in his words, but the tension is maximum and everything tends to be exaggerated.
Regardless, it is clear that Israel is currently more interested in a Republican administration. Trump is ready to end the war in Ukraine because war is a horrible thing, but he doesn’t seem to mind a conflict between Israel and Iran as long as the former wins. In fact, in the same radio interview, he almost encouraged the Jewish state to launch a heavy-handed attack: “No one will blame them after they sent 187 missiles”.
Trump’s rhetoric conflicts, as we have said, with that of the Biden administration and Democrats in general. The president and vice president issued statements Monday accusing Hamas of being responsible for the war in Gaza and deploring the civilian casualties of the conflict, without holding Israel responsible. Perhaps Harris has been more forceful in her message of support to Gazans, but Harris must win the election in less than a month and her advisers are no longer sure whether to unwavering support for Netanyahu or criticism of him will give more votes. They tend to think in the latter case and, ultimately, they tend to stay in dangerous middle ground.
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Walz and the immediate ceasefire
Although not a member of the current administration per se, vice-presidential candidate and governor of Minnesota, Tim Walzused the anniversary of the terrorist massacre against Israel to remember the hostages and call for an immediate ceasefire that could allow an exchange with Hamas prisoners. Walz met last month with the families of Americans still detained in Gaza and thanked Biden and Harris for the work they are doing to reach an agreement.
Walz’s statements are consistent with messages that Biden himself has repeated in recent months that bear little resemblance to reality. There is no intention on the part of Israel – nor on the part of Yahya Sinwarthe leader of Hamas – to now stop his offensive. Indeed, this Tuesday, it again bombed the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, considered to be strongholds of the terrorist group Hezbollah. Likewise, he responded to the launch of a Hamas projectile with a new attack on the Gaza Strip.
Separately, the IDF decided to send more troops to southern Lebanon, where the fog of war is denser than ever, and ordered the immediate evacuation of northern Gaza, raising the prospect of new attacks on a area already devastated for months. The Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkencontinues to negotiate on the ground, but his task is reminiscent of Sisyphus pushing the stone up the mountain only to watch it fall again and again. Peace is impossible where war can bring greater benefits.
