Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed claims of US control over Israel’s defense policy, stressing that Israel acts independently and “does not ask permission” to defend itself.
At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed claims regarding American involvement in Israel's security policy. "Over the past month, we have been witnessing ridiculous claims regarding the relationship between the United States and Israel. When I was in Washington, it was said there that I control the American administration, that I dictate its security policy to it. Now, the opposite is being claimed - the American administration controls me and dictates Israel's security policy. Neither of these is true," the Prime Minister insisted.
Netanyahu stressed: Israel is an independent country; the United States is an independent country. The relations between us are relations between partners, and this partnership, which has reached an all-time high, was also expressed in the operational cooperation in the second part of Operation Rising Lion. It is also expressed, and was expressed just recently, in the release of all the living hostages from Gaza, and of course in the effort to return all the fallen, and also in other areas in which we are changing the face of the Middle East together."
Later in his remarks, the Prime Minister discussed recent military actions: "But I want to make one thing crystal clear: Our security policy is in our own hands. We are not prepared to tolerate attacks against us. We respond according to our own judgment against attacks, as we saw in Lebanon and most recently in Gaza. We dropped 150 tons on Hamas and the terrorist elements after the attack on our two soldiers. And of course, we also thwart dangers as they are being formed, before they are carried out, as we did just yesterday in the Gaza Strip." (Read More)
