US President Donald H. Trump said Wednesday (December 26, 2018) that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US military aid to Israel compensated for the absence of US troops from Syrian territory, Israel´s fears that the US withdrawal from Syria announced by Trump last week would strengthen Iran´s presence in Syria and make it harder to fight.
Trump said he was not concerned that the withdrawal of US forces from Syria would endanger Israel, noting that large US aid to the Jewish state enabled it to defend itself.
Trump made the remarks during his surprise visit to US forces in Iraq, his first official visit to a conflict zone in which the United States fought one of its wars in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
President Trump defended his controversial decision last week to withdraw US troops from Syria, where US-led special forces led a coalition of dozens of European and Gulf countries to fight the "Islamic state".
Trump was asked in an interview with reporters at the US base, "Al Assad," close to the Syrian-Iraqi border for criticism of his declaration of withdrawal from Syria last week, and that some of these criticisms come from the most allies, the Israeli lobby, which considered this step may put Israel in "I told Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] and told him (with the decision to withdraw), and as you know, we give Israel $ 4.5 billion a year," Trump said in response to those questions. About themselves well, if you take a look. "
Israel will be in good shape, but we give Israel $ 4.5 billion a year, and we gave them frankly more money, if you look at the records - more money, and they do a good job themselves, "he said.
Former US President Barack Obama, in one of his most recent decisions as president, has given Israel more than $ 40 billion over a decade, along with billions of other pledges to Israel through donations and other billions of tax exempted by Israel´s donors .
Although no one knows how much real US aid to Israel is, it is likely to exceed $ 10 billion a year, of which the United States allocates $ 3.8 billion to Israel, which is constantly raised through more aid to local support and development programs each year as part of a package.
US President George W. Bush on Wednesday seized the opportunity for US forces at the base of al-Assad in Iraq to brag about his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as proof of his commitment to Israel´s security. I am the one who took the embassy to Jerusalem, as you know, there was no one willing to do it. "All of them came and went, and they all said they would, but they never did.
President Trump´s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria (2000 troops) drew sharp criticism from pro-Israel groups in Washington for the first time since he entered the White House.
This transformation comes two years after the blessing of these groups for all Trump management policies in the Middle East, where some argue that his support for Israel is important enough to justify ignoring aspects of his presidency that many see as unwelcome in the American Jewish community. AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby and other groups supporting the Israeli government, decided to transfer the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump also won a similar honor for his decision to withdraw the United States from the nuclear agreement And to record his administration´s vote on issues relating to Israel and the Middle East at the United Nations.
Trump was praised and praised by AIPAC and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies for their aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and for the Palestinian Authority and for not being indifferent to the extensive settlement activity in the occupied territories without accountability.
However, last week AIPAC published statements and statements by several senators - Democrats and Republicans - who strongly criticized Trump´s decision on Syria, including Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who described the withdrawal as a "grave mistake" and another to Democratic Senator Jane Shaheen, Which described the decision as "hasty," and warned that "it will send a new life in Da´ash and other terrorist groups."
This was the first time that AIPAC has implicitly supported such criticism against Trump since he became president two years ago. The organization also published its own statement, which made it clear that it was angry over Trump´s decision to withdraw from Syria.
"In order to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from exploiting this development to further destabilize the region and threaten our allies, the administration must work with our regional allies and take steps to confront the aggression," the statement said. Escalating to Iran and its Hezbollah / terrorist. "
"Iran must not be allowed to have a permanent military presence in Syria, which is contrary to US interests and threatens peace and security in the region," AIPAC said in a statement.
The US Jewish Committee, which also supported the recognition of occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the US Embassy, ​​called on Trump last week to rethink the withdrawal from Syria. "We urge President Trump to reconsider withdrawing all US forces from Syria, They have provided heroic service, but their mission is not over yet, the only winners are Russia and Iran - and an emerging Islamic state.
As mentioned above, some of the most critical criticism of Trump´s decision by the Defense for Democracy Foundation, an Israeli front in Washington, played a key role in opposing President Obama´s policies - particularly the historic nuclear agreement with Iran. The organization´s executive director, Mark Dubowitz, accused Trump of abandoning his policy on Iran by giving Syria up to the Iranians.
"Trump´s withdrawal has severely weakened his policy toward Iran, which indicates boredom, contraction, exhaustion and fear," Dobowitz wrote last week. "You have corrupted your politics in Iran, corrupted many of our allies, and encouraged many of our enemies, to the extent that I lost their number," he wrote in a tweet at Trump. Jonathan Shanser, the organization´s vice president for research, also criticized Trump for his trust in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in dealing with the "duel" after the US withdrawal.
"Most leaders in the Arab world reject Erdogan, and it is painful for them to see him get this reward after allowing the terrorists for years to go to Syria and Iraq across his country´s borders," Shanzer told Haaretz on Wednesday.
He said he was disappointed with Erdogan´s embrace of Erdogan, who again accused Israel this week of "killing children" and of being a "terrorist state," according to Haaretz.
However, most American Jewish youth support an end to American wars in the Middle East in general, and support a Middle East policy based on a two-state solution, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state on the 1967 borders, voting for the Democratic Party and embracing liberal ideas and principles of the Democratic Party.
Trump announced his intention last week to withdraw all US troops in Syria, in a decision that shocked both the US government and allies in the region, prompting US Defense Secretary Jim Matisse to resign shortly after Trump announced the withdrawal of his country´s troops. They number about 2,000 soldiers from Syria.
Trump justified his decision, saying it was not America´s role to manage international crises. "The United States can not continue to be the world´s policeman, we do not want to do that," he repeated on Wednesday in Iraq.
Israel has repeatedly warned in recent years that Iran is seeking to establish a military presence in Syria, fighting alongside Russia and Lebanese Hezbollah, which supports it on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Israeli officials said US absence would open the door for Tehran to establish a so-called "land bridge" from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon and the Mediterranean.
While most US troops have been stationed in northeastern Syria in support of Kurdish fighters, a small number of them have been stationed along the Iraqi border in al-Tanf, "frustrating Iranian efforts to transfer technology and weapons," according to sources in the Israeli lobby in Washington.
