The joint U.S.-Israeli base in Kiryat Gat, tasked with overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, has taken on an unprecedented role, with American officials reportedly setting much of the operational tone.
During a press session, an Israeli journalist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance whether Israel had become a “puppet state” of the U.S.
Netanyahu dismissed the suggestion: “One week people say the U.S. controls Israel, the next week they say Israel controls the U.S. This is hogwash. We have a partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values and common goals. We can have discussions, we can have disagreements here and there, but on the whole, I have to say then the past year we've had agreement agreement not only on goals, but how to reach them.
And I think we're pursuing them successfully. We've been able to do two things: Put the knife at the Hamas' throat. That was the military effort guided by Israel. And the other effort was to isolate Hamas in the Arab and Muslim world, which I think the president did brilliantly with this team. So those two things produced the hostages."
JD commented, "We want a partnership, we want an ally here. And the president believes very strongly that Israel, with our Gulf Arab allies, can play a very positive leadership role in this region to where frankly, the United States can care less about the Middle East because our allies in the region are stepping up and taking control and taking ownership of their area of the world.
Now, that doesn't mean we don't have interest here. That doesn't mean we don't care about what happens here, but we actually see this as an opportunity to build on the Abraham Accords. I think this Gaza deal is a critical piece of unlocking the Abraham Accords, but what it could allow is an alliance structure in the Middle East that perseveres, that endures, and then allows the good people in this region, the world to step up and take ownership of their own backyard that's in the United States' best interest.
The discussion followed reports that several countries are considering sending troops to Gaza, including Turkey, a proposal Israel strongly opposes. Netanyahu stated, “I have a very clear opinion on this: Israel will decide for itself.”
