Zehut Party Chairman Moshe Feiglin asserted on Monday that Israel’s growing dependence on the United States amid the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon stems not from external pressure, but from a deliberate policy adopted by the Israeli leadership.
“That was the strategy from the beginning,” Feiglin told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, accusing the government of systematically surrendering Israeli diplomatic and military sovereignty.
Feiglin pointed to the US-led base established in Kiryat Gat to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, calling it a symbol of Israel becoming a “semi-official client state.”
“President Trump told us he wanted us to be the dominant power in the region, but we weren’t ready for that. People think Trump manipulated Netanyahu, but in fact, Netanyahu manipulated Trump,” Feiglin said. “Trump, thinking like a businessman and a global bully, wanted to work with Netanyahu because his voters love us. But instead, the Israeli national consciousness has collapsed-we’ve lost our sense of nationalism.”
Feiglin went on to claim that, “The real tragedy is that Trump understood we didn’t want to take control, so he turned to al-Julani and sought to make deals there-he ran to manage Gaza because we didn’t want it. When it became clear that someone was looking to take over Gaza, many protested. But Netanyahu convinced us there was no alternative. Since we didn’t reject the leftist mindset or declare that Gaza and Gush Katif should be reestablished as a Jewish city, what happened is that Gaza ended up under US control, Hamas remained in power, and we lost our sovereignty. Just look at Kiryat Gat-this was all part of Netanyahu and the IDF’s strategy to transfer sovereignty to the Americans.”
Feiglin dismissed the claim that Netanyahu is working to make Israel a regional superpower by securing American support due to Israel’s size and geopolitical limitations.
“The Arabs aren’t leaving Gaza because Israel isn’t allowing them to,” he stated. “Two or three weeks ago, the Chief of Staff said he wouldn’t approve the creation of a migration authority because of the Military Advocate General, and so on. We need to understand that this leadership does not serve us-it doesn’t work for the people of Israel. President Trump asked us to become a regional power, but we didn’t want to. The problem isn’t with the Americans; it’s with us. The issue lies in the leadership we choose-Benjamin Netanyahu-and in the right-wing parties’ inability to break free from his coattails. It’s not them. It’s us.”