Israel’s PM says he is ready to consider role of mediator in Ukraine crisis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered talks with the Palestinians on Tuesday “once the Arab-Israeli conflict ends.”
“When the Arab-Israeli conflict does (come) to an end, I believe that we will return to the Palestinians and achieve a viable peace with them,” he said in an interview with CNN.
“I am certainly ready for them to have all the powers they need to govern themselves. But none of the powers that could threaten us,” the prime minister said.
Thus, by way of confirmation, he cited the ‘Abraham Agreements’, which allowed the normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
“I went directly to the Arab states and forged a new concept of peace. I formed four historic peace agreements, the Abraham Accords, which is twice as many peace agreements as all my predecessors in 70 years,” said the ‘premier’ Israeli.
The agreements were signed in 2020 with the mediation of the US Administration of Donald Trump and since then the Israeli authorities have assured that there are several countries in the region that are considering joining them, amid criticism from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian factions.
Netanyahu’s statements come a month after his return to power, in the midst of an escalation of tensions in recent days, since last week there were attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem, after the Israeli Army killed a dozen Palestinians in a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin, including at least one civilian woman.
The head of the Israeli government has reiterated his rejection of the nuclear agreement with Iran, noting that “signing a hundred agreements with them, rogue regimes that (have the intention of obtaining) nuclear weapons, does not help.”
“I think the only way to stop or refrain from getting nuclear weapons is a combination of crippling economic sanctions, but more importantly a credible military threat,” he explained.
This issue has complicated relations with the US authorities, despite the fact that Iran formally halted its weapons program.
Another point of contention between the two countries is the Israeli position on Ukraine, since although it has condemned the invasion and sends humanitarian aid on a regular basis, Israel has not sent weapons to the Ukrainian troops.
Still, Netanyahu has said he is prepared to reconsider his role in the Ukraine war as a mediator, should all interested parties ask for it.
“If all the relevant parties ask me, I will certainly consider it, but I am not putting pressure on myself,” he declared, assuring that when the invasion began, before his mandate, that he was offered to act as a mediator between Moscow and kyiv.
Likewise, he has addressed concerns about his cabinet, described as the most right-wing in the country’s history and which has raised criticism in the country’s public opinion, which has demonstrated massively in the streets for days over the new measures, as a controversial of judicial reform.
“I have both hands on the wheel,” Netanyahu stressed, defending statements by some of his cabinet members, assuring that “many people say many things when they are not in power, but they temper when they arrive.”
“I control the government and I am responsible for its policies, and the policies are sensible and responsible, and they continue to be that,” he said, assuring that the changes would “strengthen democracy”, while accusing critics of hypocrisy.
The changes proposed by Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin could give the government control of the judicial selection committee, limit the authority of legal advisers and, above all, reduce the ability of the Supreme Court to revoke certain laws passed in Parliament. .