Antony Blinken tends to speak with a soft voice, almost in a whisper. His language is also restrained, and his words are chosen carefully. You won’t catch him putting his feet on the table like Barack Obama, or swearing like Donald Trump. He’s a diplomat. His stabs are barely noticeable. It’s hard to argue with him.
But as the days go by, it is becoming increasingly clear that the second Jewish U.S. secretary of state is the most hostile Israel has known in decades. The most serious thing he does, with honey-mouthed words, is trying to stop the Israeli war machine in its tracks. That is the real goal of the moves he is trying to concoct.
He won’t say that out loud. U.S. President Joe Biden stated at the outset of the hostilities that Washington was committed to the goals of the war, and unlike the case in Israel, a U.S. cabinet secretary cannot contradict the president’s words. So Blinken has found a workaround: He demands more and more humanitarian aid, which he knows goes straight to Hamas, and helps the organization prolong its rule in the Gaza Strip; he opposes IDF activity in Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold, for fear of harming the population, of course; and he expects the Gazan population to return to the north of the Strip, even though this would interfere with the war.
Thus, visit after visit, Blinken throws a spoke in the Israeli tanks’ tracks.
Now he expects Israel to agree to a very long ceasefire as part of the second deal, turn a blind eye to Hamas’s continued rule, withdraw its forces from the Gaza area and commit to a Palestinian state.
And then, of course, the magic that Blinken failed to deliver in the three years preceding the war will just appear out of a clear blue sky, and peace with Saudi Arabia will be a done deal. Of course, if Israel were to agree to his requests, this would be tantamount to a diplomatic defeat after a military success. The Israeli response has been a polite “no.”
In the same way, he dealt one of the harshest blows the United States has ever inflicted on Israel. This refers to the unprecedented sanctions on the four Israelis who, according to the Americans, harmed Palestinians. This move was presented as a problem for those four, or for the “settlers.” But that is a mistaken interpretation: it was designed to put the State of Israel to shame.
What the Americans are accusing those four settlers of is not terrorism, murder, arms or human trafficking. Rather, they are accused of carrying out assaults and participating in demonstrations or inciting riots and damaging property. Although such conduct may be wrong, it is a far cry from the types of crimes for which the United States normally imposes sanctions.
Moreover, the administration relies on the one-sided reports of anarchist organizations, which in many cases contribute to the inflammation of riots themselves. That is, contrary to the most basic norms of justice and law, our great friend across the sea did not even give the four Israelis a chance to present their version, but rendered a one-sided verdict.
The designations of those four individuals are, in fact, a way of telling Israel that the United States does not trust the Israeli judicial system. But the police enforce law and order; there is no shortage of trials and convictions of those who break the law. Blinken simply decided not to believe us. As a side note, the IDF Central Command unfortunately contributed to this great failure. When the Americans raised the initial allegations about “settler violence,” the army confirmed them, even though the police, not the IDF, is supposed to deal with these problems.
And the Israel Police have refuted the American claims, saying that all complaints are being investigated. The fact that the IDF has accepted these false American figures on settler violence and the willingness of the political echelon to silently accept the humiliating American punishment is a self-inflicted wound by the State of Israel.
In any case, the one who has been orchestrating this fabrication from his first day in office is Blinken. The same Blinken, the serial bungler of American foreign policy since 2021, from Russia to Iran, wants to add Israel to the list.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
