Israel must ignore US pressure and act based solely on its own interests, says Likud lawmaker

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli lawmaker and member of the ruling coalition has called on the Netanyahu government to ignore international pressure, including from the Biden administration, and to decide Israel’s policies vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip and ongoing war with Hamas solely on the basis of “Israeli interests, and nothing else.”

MK Danny Danon, a member of the ruling Likud party and a former Ambassador to the United Nations, spoke with Radio Kol Hai Thursday on tensions between Jerusalem and the Biden administration, the upcoming American elections, and Israel’s war in Gaza.

Danon argued that the Biden administration’s public criticism of the Israeli government and Biden’s refusal to invoke the American veto in the United Nations Security Council to block this week’s resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were closely linked to the November presidential election and poll showing former President Donald Trump defeating Biden.

“We need to look at the calendar and understand that the US has elections in November. There is pressure. They are looking at states like Nevada and Michigan,” Danon said.

 

A new poll released by Fox News Thursday shows the former president with a five-point lead over his successor nationwide, 50% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup.

According to the RealClearPolitics rolling average of polls, Trump also leads Biden in key battleground states, including Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada, with leads in enough states to win 312 electoral votes – well above the 270 needed to secure the presidency.

Danon emphasized that regardless of the winner in this fall’s presidential election, Israel must determine its policies based on its own interests “and nothing else,” suggesting that a Trump White House would not necessarily have responded to the war in a dramatically different fashion from the Biden administration.

The U.S., Danon said, “wants to end the war and we want to bring back the hostages.”

“I don’t know if Trump would have acted differently, but we need to look at the Israeli interests and nothing else. If we hadn’t listened to the Americans for the past few months all this may have been behind us already.”