(Sept 16) Last Saturday, President Donald Trump reported that he had talked with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about creating a mutual defense treaty between Israel and the US. Trump hoped to continue talks with Netanyahu after Israeli elections.
Trump's statement
Trump tweeted: "I had a call today with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of moving forward with a Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Israel, that would further anchor the tremendous alliance between our two countries.I look forward to continuing those discussions after the Israeli Elections when we meet at the United Nations later this month!"
Israeli election to take place this week
Israel is set to go to the polls this week on September 17th. It is expected to be close. Wikipedia explains the circumstances creating the snap election: "Snap legislative elections are due to be held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the prior elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, the first such failure in Israeli history. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz from being appointed Prime Minister-designate.[1] This election was the first time that the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a government had been formed.[2]"
Trump clearly would prefer Netanyahu to win. Indeed, his comments are no doubt at least in part designed to boost Netanyahu's chances just before the election. While the US regards attempts to interfere in its elections quite negatively, particularly by Russia, Trump appears quite comfortable in showing support for Netanyahu and interfering in the Israeli election.
Netanyahu would like to see such an agreement
The mutual defense treaty would regard any attack on Israel as an attack on the US. This could help deter many of Israel's foes from retaliating to any attacks Israel makes against them. There are many US politicians including Trump who are very pro-Israel and would support such a treaty.
Senator Lindsey Graham is one of many US politicians supporting a mutual defense treaty: "Sen. Lindsey Graham floated the idea of a mutual defense treaty in April at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual meeting in Las Vegas, saying, “An attack against Israel would be considered an attack against the United States.”"|
Previously published in the Digital Journal
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