Netanyahu pushes back on US, says Israel not American protectorate

Israel's prime minister has said his country is in charge of its own security and isn't an American protectorate as he prepared to discuss progress on Gaza’s ceasefire agreement with US Vice President JD Vance.

Netanyahu’s remarks on Wednesday, ahead of his meeting with Vance, appeared aimed at Israeli objections to the presence of an envisioned international security force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza truce plan.

“We are not a protectorate of the United States. Israel is the one that will decide on its security,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office as he headed into the meeting.

Speaking to reporters before the meeting's start, Vance acknowledged that the road to peace is strewn with huge hurdles but at the same time tried to maintain the buoyant tone he sounded on Tuesday on his arrival in Israel.

After meeting

After the meeting, Netanyahu and Vance also rejected claims that Israel is an American “client state” and emphasised their partnership in working to implement Washington’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

“We don’t want in Israel a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership; we want an ally,”

Netanyahu also pushed back against perceptions that Israel acts under US direction.

“I want to put it very clearly,” Netanyahu said.

“One week, they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later, they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli government announced that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel to meet with Netanyahu on Friday.

“There’s a lot of work to do, but I feel very optimistic about where we are,” Vance said.

In a meeting later Wednesday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Vance again said he felt optimistic about making “peace stick” and that the US would keep working on it.

___

Soyrce: TRT