Yaakov Peri, the former head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet and Rep. Ilhan Omar (Yaakov P)
Freshman Democratic representative Ilhan Omar has come under fire in recent weeks following a flurry of online comments widely deemed anti-Semitic by lawmakers, politicians and Americans alike.
While some top Democrats were quick to condemn her comments and Israel criticism, others have failed to rebuke her slurs – prompting at least one former Israeli security and intelligence chief to question the direction of the Democratic party and its tolerance of the Congressional newcomer from Minnesota’s unchartered turmoil.
“It is something that I am concerned about, listening to such voices and leaders of the Democratic party not condemning them is a concern to Israel, and to every freedom and liberal human being,” Yaakov Peri, 74, the former head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet and later the Minister of Science & Technology, told Fox News. “These kinds of voices were never heard in the American administrations and it is something that I am concerned about.”
In his view, Omar’s criticism of Israel, its lobbying efforts and finances – followed by only some denunciation from some Democrats – is, in large part, an attempt to hit back at President Trump.
“It is (coming from) internal American politics," Peri believes. "As Mr. Trump is one of the biggest supporters of Israel, it is a way of dealing with him.
“Unfortunately, doing it in an anti-Semitic way is not acceptable.”
Even though relations between Israel and the United States leadership are strong, Peri expressed concern that it is still “very fragile, very elastic, and unstable”. Israel has its own elections next month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on bribery and corruption charges.
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All the while, Israel’s internal security is still rife with problems on multiple frontiers.
In this Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The debate among American Jews over President Donald Trump has become as raucous as the first weeks of the Trump administration itself, hardening divisions between liberal and conservative Jews that have been growing for years. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (The Associated Press)
The former security commander has been busily crafting a “New State Solution,” a new Middle East peace initiative that would ultimately entail leasing land from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in an effort to solve the seemingly intractable Palestinian problem.
“The fact is that all negotiations between Israel and Palestine have failed. We have to come up with new, creative ideas,” Peri explained. “First of all, this gives an immediate solution for a very difficult humanitarian situation. The Gaza Strip is on the edge of a humanitarian crisis, one of the worst times it has ever been.”
Focusing first and foremost on the overcrowded Gaza Strip, the “New State Solution” not only involves the territorial expansion of Gaza into the Sinai, but empowers the government of the “New State” to declare its own capital, its own commercial airport, and economic trade, as well as giving the Palestinian state the ability to defend itself, by itself.
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Palestinians gather in front of a destroyed building that was hit by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. (AP)
Beyond that, the intelligence top-brass said that they are fighting – or closely watching – threats from the likes of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Syria, Iran – and, despite almost being squeezed from all its territorial control in the region, ISIS
According to Peri, the Islamic terror outfit is still profiting from parts of the oil sector in Iraq and Syria, financing future terrorist endeavors.
“ISIS is still dominating oil fields and has political power. They are benefitting from selling the old oil products for half the commercial price on the market,” Peri asserted. “While the power of ISIS has declined, they will come back to life.”
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