Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toughened his stance Wednesday when he sent a message to Washington and the rest of the world — that Israel is in charge of its own security and isn't an American protectorate. The AP reports on his making that remark as he prepared to discuss progress on Gaza' s fragile ceasefire agreement with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.
Vance commented before the meeting: "We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza to make life better for the people in Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel.”
Netanyahu’s statement appeared to be aimed at calming the rising concern about the international security force coming to Gaza, which is perceived as potentially hindering Israel’s ability to prevent future threats.
Gary Bauer is chairman of the Campaign for Working Families and serves on the board of Christians United for Israel. He thinks that there is just some confusion here.
"Protectorate is a legal term. Benjamin Netanyahu is not saying that America doesn't protect Israel. He's saying that Israel is not a protectorate of the United States, which means a country controlled by the United States in exchange for the United States protecting it,” explains Bauer.
Bauer clarifies that that is not the arrangement between Israel and the United States, but instead, they are allies.
"He was just making a comment that they are a nation. They’re their own nation. They don't take orders from the United States or anybody else. They're not a subsidiary of the United States,” says Bauer. “So, he's just reassuring his own conservative base that he will continue to do whatever he needs to do to safeguard the Israeli people."
