On Monday, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its Annual Global Threat Assessment which warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grasp on power is “in jeopardy.”
The United States risks becoming isolated in the world along with Israel as it continues to support Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, former senior security analyst at the US Office of the Secretary of Defense, Michael Maloof told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Wednesday.
“What’s unfortunate is that [the United States] is going to get dragged into it. So that the United States and Israel ultimately could become isolated,” Maloof explained. “We’re hypocrites in that regard as long as we continue to support this action, we are going to be labeled and isolated in the world right along with Israel and we will have only ourselves to blame.”
Israel’s actions in Gaza have been described as “plausible” genocide by the International Court of Justice, an assessment Maloof seemed to agree with.
“[Israel is] following the old Talmudic notion that everyone else is beneath them, that [everyone else] are animals to serve them, and that’s how they’re treating people today,” Maloof argued. “They want ethnic cleansing, they want the Palestinians out, they want to expand and extend their Jewish state concept…. If Netanyahu deviates from that, then he is out [of office].”
Earlier, Melik Abdul asked about the political situation in Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu’s grasp on power, noting that the Israeli PM is facing ethics charges as soon as he leaves office.
“We saw [Netanyahu’s tenuous grasp on power], glaringly, last week when [National Unity Party leader Benny] Gantz, who’s part of their crisis team, actually defied Netanyahu and visited the United States and went not only to the Department of Defense but also had a chat with the vice president,” Maloof recalled. “That sent a very serious signal from, I believe, the [Joe] Biden administration that Netanyahu’s popularity in the United States is on a respirator… [and] it was a broad signal that he’s not popular at home.”
However, the likely alternative to Netanyahu is even worse, Maloof explained. “Ben-Gvir is insanity on steroids. He, in the way he acts and carries on, is tantamount to what we used to see with the Nazis themselves. I mean, they have learned from their masters at one time, as it were.”
Maloof said he fears that even after Israel halts its campaign in Gaza, Israel will expand its operations to nearby countries. “Even if they have a conclusion [in] Gaza, they’re going to go into Lebanon and they’re already showing it,” Maloof explained.
“This war could go on in perpetuity and extend indefinitely as long as it keeps Netanyahu in power. But if the Israelis were to put boots on the ground in Lebanon, I envision that you’re going to see the elimination of Israel. You will see all the axis [of resistance] powers coming to bear all at once,” Maloof predicted. “That also will include Iraqi resistance and other Shia resistance, and you may even have the Sunnis involved because of the way Palestinians and others are being treated indiscriminately by the Israelis.”
