Israel/Palestine

Likud’s Vaturi says Jewish state ‘probably more democratic’ than US; former envoy to Washington says some American officials now believe Netanyahu an ‘existential danger to Israel’

Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition reacted furiously Wednesday morning to US President Joe Biden’s extraordinary criticism of Jerusalem’s plan to severely weaken the justice system, with one Knesset member from the premier’s ruling Likud party going so far as to claim that Israel was “probably more democratic” than America and accusing former US president Barack Obama of causing the death of Israeli soldiers during a 2014 operation in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, opposition figures decried the Netanyahu government as “dangerous,” and a former Israeli envoy to Washington described the current crisis as perhaps the worst in bilateral relations in more than 30 years, adding that the Biden administration has “no trust” in the prime minister.

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Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweeted Wednesday morning: “For decades, Israel was the closest ally of the US. The most extreme government in the history of the country spoiled this in three months.”

Benny Gantz, the leader of the opposition National Unity party, called Biden’s comments “an urgent wake-up call for the Israeli government,” adding: “Damage to our ties with the US, our closest friend and our most important ally, is a strategic blow.”

Labor party leader Merav Michaeli said that Biden had “said in his own way that Netanyahu is dangerous to Israel. This is the time to act to replace this dangerous government.”

Source : https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-far-right-scorn-biden-criticism-one-mk-says-israel-can-defend-itself-alone/