Israelis who protested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday welcomed the news that Joe Biden had defeated President Donald Trump in the US elections.
Anti-Netanyahu protesters have been organizing weekly meetings since the summer in an attempt to force the conflict leader to resign, as he faces trial on corruption charges and accused of mismanaging the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t know if Biden is good or bad for Israel. Hope it’s good. It’s good that Americans chose him because they didn’t like Trump. Trump did stupid things, ”said protester Etty Meidan. “What he did affected us. And let’s see. Time will tell.”
The protesters are generally considered more liberal with many objecting to Netanyahu’s closeness to Trump.
“Trump Down, Bibi to go,” reads a protest banner that used a nickname for Netanyahu.
Despite his stated commitment to bipartisan ties with the US, Israel’s closest and most important ally, Netanyahu has frequently been seen as siding with the Republicans. Netanyahu had a good relationship with President Barack Obama, appeared to favor Republican challenger Mitt Romney in 2012 and then delivered a major speech to Congress in 2015 to argue against Obama’s emerging nuclear deal with Iran.
After taking office, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal with world powers, earning praise from Netanyahu.
Trump also pushed for recognition of disputed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, and showed a tolerant approach to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. It also led to diplomatic pacts between Israel and three Arab countries.
Biden, the Democratic president-elect, claims “staunch” support for Israel, wants to stop annexation, and has backed a two-state solution to the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He said he would keep the US embassy in Jerusalem after Trump moved it from Tel Aviv.
“I feel that to truly move forward with peace and negotiation with the Palestinians, which is the most important path to peace, we need a United States that is more neutral, that is more of a bridge between us and the Palestinians,” said the protester Shani Weissman. .
In the West Bank, senior official at the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hanan Ashrawi, tweeted “America abandoned!”
“The world also needs to be able to breathe,” he added. “Now is the time to apply bold and holistic therapies.”
The Palestinian leadership suspended contacts with the Trump administration in 2017 after it closed the PLO office in Washington and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Earlier this year, the Palestinian Authority severed all ties with Israel and the US after the Trump administration rolled out its Middle East peace plan, which gives Israel the green light to annex 30% of the West Bank. occupied, territory sought by the Palestinians as the main component of a future state.
“Trumpism must be carefully analyzed and remedied to restore human, moral and legal balance within and outside the United States. Such phenomena do not emerge from a vacuum, ”Ashrawi said on Twitter.
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