AMMAN
— Responding to
Israel’s increasingly extremist government and policies,
emblemized by recent judicial overhauls granting government officials further
immunity to scrutiny, former US ambassadors to Israel have expressed concern
over the future of US-Israel ties.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking to the New York Times, former ambassadors
Dan Kurtzer and Martin Indyk were
among the figures to state the time has come for a new approach to the
US-Israel relationship not centered on foreign aid.
Kurtzer
elaborated, “Israel’s economy is strong enough that it does not need aid;
security assistance distorts
Israel’s economy and creates a false sense of
dependency,” Haaretz reported.
“Aid
provides the US with no leverage or influence over Israeli decisions to use
force; because we sit by quietly while Israel pursues policies we oppose, we
are seen as ‘enablers’ of Israel’s occupation,” he continued, adding that “US
aid provides a multibillion-dollar cushion that allows Israel to avoid hard
choices of where to spend its own money and thus allows Israel to spend more
money on policies we oppose, such as
settlements.”
Indyk,
who served as US special Middle East peace envoy, said “Israel can afford it,
and it would be healthier for the relationship if Israel stood on its own two
feet."
The
Biden Administration
The
Biden administration is currently displeased by
Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right
government relating to the judicial overhaul, settlement expansion, and other
matters relating to Israel's approach toward the Palestinians putting a
potential two-state solution further out of reach.
The
issue has only been exacerbated by Biden's refusal to formally invite Netanyahu
to the White House for an official visit.
The
Democrats have become increasingly divided on this issue, but due to labels of
antisemitism from Republican rivals there is a hesitancy in politicizing it.
But the Judicial overhaul has continued to make Democrats unsure of Israel’s
democratic integrity.
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