Lapid Pans Washington: Afghanistan Withdrawal Poorly Executed

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Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, criticized US President Joe Biden’s plans to reopen the US Consulate General in East Al-Quds, calling it a “bad idea.”

Israeli media reported Lapid as saying that “this might destabilize this government, and I don’t think the American administration wants this to happen,” because the government had been there for 130 years, and when it’s closed and then reopened, then this move “will send the wrong message, not only to the region, not only to the Palestinians, but also to other countries, and we don’t want this to happen.”

Lapid added that the second reason is political, being that the government is fragile, and although the US administration has a different way of seeing things, they will listen to the Israeli government in the end. 

It is worth mentioning that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had announced that the US Consulate is to be reopened in East Al-Quds after it was closed during the Trump administration.

Lapid: Nuclear deal will go nowhere

Lapid also commented on the Iran nuclear deal, saying that it will go nowhere, “The world needs a 'plan b,' and Iran needs to know there is a credible threat on it if they will keep on advancing their nuclear program as they do now."

“Israel,” according to Lapid, has two large security and policy challenges, Hezbollah and Iran, noting that with regards to the nuclear deal, “Israel” and the US “agreed to disagree.”

As for Palestine, Lapid clarified that prospects for diplomacy with Palestine are dim under the current government because the Israeli government is focused on internal affairs, adding, "I am a devoted believer in the two-state solution... but we'll have to admit the fact that this is not feasible in the current situation."

The Israeli Foreign Minister also panned the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying "it didn't happen the way it was supposed to happen, and then again, it was probably the right decision, maybe that wasn't performed in the right manner."

He also said that this move’s consequences are not yet fully understood and that it will have a great effect on “al-Qaeda” and “ISIS”. Lapid said, "We should wait a little before we jump to conclusions about the aftermath of the US withdrawal," emphasizing that he did not believe the US withdrawal from Afghanistan signaled a retreat from the Middle East.