Archives Israel and the USA - Page 8 of 11 - New Eastern Outlook

These days, despite his best efforts, everything is going wrong for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The massive and relentless assault on Gaza, now in its seventh month, has failed to deliver the decisive victory he solemnly promised Israelis after Hamas’ successes on 7 October. The US and other Western allies, horrified by what they have done in conjunction with the Israelis in Gaza against the Palestinians, are warning Tel Aviv against carrying out the much-publicised ground invasion of Rafah. And daily rallies by families of captives who want B. Netanyahu to agree to a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, tear apart and continually agitate Israeli society…

Iran’s first direct successful attack on Israel for its many brutal attacks on Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the annihilation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank has dramatically changed the rules for all state and non-state actors in the Middle East. On 13 April, for the first time in nearly 190 days, Palestinians in Gaza were able to sleep without fear of Israel’s constant aerial presence in the skies over the Strip, which has been mercilessly carpet-bombed since 7 October…

On 18 April, the US vetoed a draft resolution prepared by Algeria proposing to grant full UN membership to the state of Palestine, effectively blocking a Security Council decision to recognise Palestine as a state. Twelve of the fifteen Council members – Slovenia, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Mozambique, Malta, Japan, Guyana, Ecuador, Algeria, as well as Russia, China and France – voted in favour of the resolution, while the UK and Switzerland abstained (Palestine has had observer status at the UN since 2012). The US representative, speaking at the meeting, argued that Palestine’s full membership in the UN “is a decision to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians”.