U.S. and Israeli Diplomatic Relationship Hits New Low
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News)– Washington’s support for a new Palestinian government which includes Hamas, a terrorist organization, has left Israel feeling betrayed, triggering a new diplomatic crisis with its closest ally.
Several Israeli officials expressed anger after the Obama Administration said it was willing to work with the new Palestinian government.
“I have to say I do not understand this American announcement,” said Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, who accused Washington of saying one thing behind closed doors and another in public.
“You cannot present it as a Hamas government internally, then present it publicly as a government of technocrats,” Steinitz said on Israeli army radio.
“If these (ministers) are people who identify with Hamas, Hamas identifies with them and appointed them, then they are representatives of Hamas. This is a Hamas government, and Hamas is a terror organization,” he said.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the international community not to rush into recognizing the new government, which he said would only “strengthen terror.” Israeli Public Radio said Netanyahu was feeling “betrayed and deceived” since he assured his security cabinet that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had promised him that the U.S. Administration would not recognize the new government immediately.
However, five hours after the Palestinian government was announced the United States recognized the newly formed government in Ramallah.
“Unfortunately, American naivety has broken all records,” said Israeli Communications Minister Gilad Erdan
“Collaborating with Hamas, which is defined as a terror organization in the United States, is simply unthinkable.
“US capitulation to Palestinian tactics badly damages the chance of ever returning to negotiations and will cause Israel to take unilateral steps to defend its citizens from the government of terror which Abu Mazen (Abbas) has set up.”
Israeli commentators chalked up the newly formed Palestinian government as a “major success” in driving a new wedge between Israel and the United States.
A senior Israeli official was quoted by Israel Hayom saying the U.S. Actions over the past week was “like a knife in the back.”