The Biden administration’s executive order restricting Israeli citizens in the West Bank is “counterproductive,” the speaker of Israel’s parliament told The Post.
“I think it doesn’t help anyone to think that Israel is not dealing with this problem,” said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. “There is a very small minority who act in criminal ways that harm Israel and who we deal with through our law enforcement authorities.”
Ohana is addressing the Biden administration’s sanctions earlier this month on Israelis living in disputed territory who have been accused of violence against Palestinians.
Speaker spoke to The Post Thursday, as he led an Israeli delegation to the United States this week that included visits with Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington DC and Governor Hochul, Cardinal Dolan and United Nations boss António Guterres in Apple big
Ohana also dismissed Biden’s enthusiasm for a two-state solution.
Amir Ohana, Speaker of the Israeli parliament, led a delegation to the United States this week. Helayne Seidman
“So called a solution,” he sniffed. “I don’t think this is the solution.”
While Ohana is more or less colored by Israel’s official line to exit US domestic politics, disillusionment is mounting with Biden in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative government.
In recent days, Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, said Biden’s focus on humanitarian aid to the Palestinians was hindering the war effort against Hamas, and that former president Donald Trump was better for Israel. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Biden’s executive order targeting Israelis was “antisemitic”.
Ohana said reforming the education of Palestinian children and building their economy should come first before any formal statehood considerations.
Amir Ohana met with senior US parliamentarians including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Reuters
Ohana reiterated Israel’s old war goal of vowing “inevitable defeat for Hamas.” Part of that victory, Ohana said, will be the systematic killing of Hamas’ top leaders – something Netanyahu has vowed to continue.
While Hamas ranks and commanders have been hit in Gaza, the terrorist organization’s top leaders — such as Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal — are known to live in Qatar. Both have billions of dollars in net worth, stolen largely from aid funds earmarked for their citizens.
When asked if Hamas leaders living abroad were legitimate targets for assassination, Ohana replied emphatically “yes, absolutely.” In January, a Hamas leader in Lebanon, Saleh Arouri, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut. The attack was widely credited to Israel.
Ohana declared that he was for the assassination of Hamas leaders abroad. Getty Images
The Knesset leader said he was unfazed by the recent failure of the Israel aid bill in Congress and that his meeting with US leaders in Washington DC had left him hopeful.
“We need all the help we can get, and I have to say that I’m very encouraged that both sides of the aisle agree with that and they say, ‘Look, we’ve been here, we’ve been around a long time. , we really sure that one way or another you will receive it and it won’t take too long,” said Ohana.
Before the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 — Israel’s relationship with the region had grown rapidly. In the waning days of the Trump administration, the country signed normalization agreements with Morocco, Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Many say the Israel-Saudi Arabia deal will happen.
Ohana insisted the recent destruction caused by Hamas would not affect the wider peace process.
“No Arab country rejected the Abrahamic Covenant,” said Ohana. “We heard positive statements from Saudi Arabia saying that normalization with Israel is still on the table. But to move further, we must eliminate Hamas.”
Ohana – who is openly gay and lives with her husband and two children in Tel Aviv – said she was baffled by America’s progressive attacks on her country.
“Most of the Arab world, they still have a way to go on freedom, not only for LGBT, but freedom for women, and freedom of speech,” he said. “If you’re for democracy, you’re on the wrong side of the sidewalk, if you’re against Israel.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
