Former Israeli defense minister says conflict looms with Hamas
In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Defense Minister Moshe Arens contends that Israeli politicians depict a false picture of deteriorating Israeli-US ties, especially in regard to Congress, saying that ''relations are very stable."
Former Defense Minister Moshe Arens (1983-84, 1990-92, 1999) kept a skeptical eye on the reports that emerged this week from the International Donors' Conference in Cairo for Reconstructing Gaza on Oct. 12. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Arens said the billions of dollars pledged on behalf of the Gaza civilian population would reach Hamas hands and serve them for rearmament. Thus, in Arens’ opinion, the next round of fighting between Hamas and Israel is only a matter of time.
Arens, who will turn 89 in December, is a member of the Likud movement and former Israeli ambassador to Washington. To this very day, Arens is viewed as one of Israel’s most esteemed Israeli defense ministers, who enjoyed excellent, intimate relationships with US administrations throughout his tenures. He refuses to get agitated from the descriptions and reports of acrimonious conflicts between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Barack Obama administration. According to Arens, the Israel-US relationship is better today than ever.
Arens’ criticism of Netanyahu, the man he politically mentored during Netanyahu’s early years in politics, is that the prime minister is not wisely devoting himself to strengthening the alliance with Israeli Arabs. Arens feels that this objective should head the government’s priority list.
The text of the interview follows:
