Yoram Ettinger, the former Israeli consul in Washington, DC, on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s time in office to carry out meaningful moves.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Ettinger said Trump understands that a Palestinian state would be a “great burden” and is thus open to other alternatives.
“Israel must leverage these next four years and not spend the credit on being cautious and tiptoeing around so as not to offend the president,” he said. “We have to understand that the American president works using American considerations and he understands that a Palestinian state would be great burden, so he is going down a completely different path.”
“The question is whether Israel will leverage this to bolster its national and security needs in Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights or if it will waste it on excuses of caution and tiptoeing around,” added Ettinger.
The former consul praised UN ambassador Nikki Haley’s speech, in which she blasted the UN for its obsession with Israel and vowed to work to end the UN's biased treatment of the Jewish state.
“This is truly a new era of an administration that represents the trend of anti-establishment and anti-political correctness regarding Israel. And one manifestation of this is, of course, the recent statements by the United States and the speech we heard yesterday from the new ambassador. It is important that this change will be reflected not only in words but also in action. For example, reducing the United States’ financing of the United Nations,” said Ettinger.
Ettinger also referred to Trump’s disputes with the mainstream media which has continuously covered him in a negative manner, and predicted that the media would eventually learn to live with the new president.
“Trump is doing everything to make clear to the American public that he is acting against the media outlets that are wrongly referred to as the ‘elite,’” he said.
“The U.S. system of government, unlike here in Israel, guarantees the president at least four years in the White House. There aren’t any no-confidence votes or a parliamentary majority. Therefore, it is assumed there will be at least four years of Trump at the White House,” added Ettinger.