Even if the wars he launched, in Gaza and Lebanon, never aroused serious opposition, internally or on the international scene, Benjamin Netanyahu has his hands freer than he has ever had since. on October 7, 2023, to continue to lead them as he sees fit. In the space of a few hours, on the night of Tuesday November 5 to Wednesday November 6, the Prime Minister dismissed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who called, against his advice, to put an end to operations in Gaza, and he saw Donald Trump win in the United States against Kamala Harris. Inside and out, he is free from two constraints.
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There are just over seventy days left before the inauguration of the winner of the American presidential election in Washington. In the meantime, like his American counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu will have to deal with legal threats. He is supposed to be heard, as a witness, on December 2, in a corruption trial started in 2020. But, from now on, he can work to increase attacks against a vast spectrum of objectives: Iran , the Israeli internal opposition, international institutions, among others.
Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants above all else “peace” in the Middle East. But the Republican means by this a peace of the strong, with Israel at the center of the game, and international law relegated to oblivion. Before the Israeli American Council in September, he awarded himself the title of “protector” of the Hebrew State. He then focused part of his attacks on his Democratic presidential opponent, Kamala Harris, on this theme, asserting that if she were elected, Israel would be wiped off the map. “in two years”.
Trauma of October 7
The latter, in his eyes, belongs to the category of those who are pushing Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, for whom he has nothing but contempt. To the great satisfaction of Benjamin Netanyahu, who fought his own defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on this ground until Tuesday evening. The latter brought behind him most of the military hierarchy. He had also developed excellent relations with the Biden administration, which was, through this, in a position to influence, even modestly, Israeli decisions concerning the war. Harris out of the game and Gallant sacked, replaced by Israel Katz, completely aligned with the Prime Minister’s positions, these are two potential obstacles that have disappeared.
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