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Published: 01 December 2022
In an article published in the Washington Post, Daniel Kurtzer, the former US ambassador to Israel, and Aaron David Miller, the US Middle East peace negotiator, warned that the next Netanyahu government would annex the Palestinian Territories, expel the Arabs, or eliminate the dwindling possibility of the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.
US diplomats have urged the administration of President Joe Biden to cut off arms supplies to Israel, fearing the use of military force by the right-wing Netanyahu government against the Arab population, which will ostensibly lead to the end of the two-state solution.
They pointed to the possibility of actions by Israel that they called"malicious" by the new ministers who announced racist views, such as accelerating the construction of settlements, and moves "to build an infrastructure for settlers designed to prevent the possibility of two states".
"Israel should be told that the United States will continue to support the legitimate security requirements of its ally, but at the same time will not provide offensive weapons or any other assistance to malicious Israeli actions in Jerusalem or the occupied territories,"the two wrote.
Kurtzer and Miller also called on Washington to end the almost complete protection of Israel in diplomatic forums, including the UN Security Council and the International Court of justice, if Israel takes "actions worthy of recall and condemnation".
According to Kurtzer and Miller, the pressure exerted by an American president on a democratically elected Israeli government is unprecedented and controversial.
"But Israel has never been exposed to this dangerous scenario before," they continued, stressing that this is an opportunity for Biden to show his strength.
The two explained that the pressure is justified, because the new Israeli administration will include a "convicted inciter of hatred and violence" against Arabs, Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish power party, as Minister of national security "with broad powers over the West Bank, Jerusalem and cities with Arab and Israeli populations".