According to various reports, American officials express concern about the expected central presence of the Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir and a member of the Knesset Bezalel Smotrich in the designated Netanyahu government. For that, Alon Penksthe former consul in New York, spoke tonight (Thursday) with Aryeh Eldad and Ben Caspit on 103FM.
At the beginning of the conversation, Pankas said: “We are constantly starting from the assumption that there is an American veto and American pressure and serious American opposition to the appointment of – in this case Smotrich – but also of Mann in the Ministry of Defense. We do not know this as a fact. It is very possible that the pressure and the veto and these talks They originated in Jerusalem during the formation of the coalition. I’m not at all sure that President Biden sat down with Austin, the American Secretary of Defense, and did a situation assessment on Smotrich.”
Pankas added that “on the other hand, two or three weeks before the elections, a publication came out that in Mr. Netanyahu’s meeting together with the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Robert Menendez, who is going to keep his seat as chairman of the committee after the mid-term elections, Mendez warned Netanyahu From extremists in the government. Similar things were heard later from all kinds of places. Some with name disclosure and some anonymously. Then there were elections and their result, which is the result, and Smotrich rightly claims the security portfolio for himself, and suddenly there seems to be American pressure.”
“Now, it’s clear that the Americans would have preferred another defense minister. They obviously have something to say on the matter, for reasons of the intelligence information that passes, for reasons of types of weapons that Israel may or may not have, and especially in light of Smotrich’s statements. At the same time, they are cautious. You both remember very well that the only time the Americans blatantly interfered was in the appointment of Col. Aviam Sela to the rank of lieutenant colonel or commander of the Air Force’s Tel Nof base, and this was for his part in the Pollard case, which was in 1985. At the time, Israel puffed up its chest and said ‘it won’t happen and it won’t happen’, then Samuel Lewis who was the American ambassador said ‘no problem, the moment the cooperation between the air forces will stop’. Israel waited a few days or weeks and the appointment was canceled.”
“Smotrich is right according to his method in his claim to receive the security file, if it is the file he thinks is the right one for him politically and fundamentally. I am not sure that the Americans will not cooperate with him. The claim about Israel’s policy in the territories, if they have one, they should bring to Mr. Netanyahu” , Concluded.