{"id":52570,"date":"2017-05-29T17:05:37","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T15:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=52570"},"modified":"2017-05-29T16:08:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T14:08:42","slug":"29-05-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=52570","title":{"rendered":"Entire Israeli security establishment is worried by Trump\u2019s Saudi arms deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Entire Israeli security establishment is worried by Trump\u2019s Saudi arms deal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

RAOUL WOOTLIFF AND RAPHAEL AHREN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kowtowing to US president, Netanyahu left Israel vulnerable by failing to prevent or even criticize massive, dangerous DC-Riyadh accord, says Yesh Atid leader<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said Monday that the entire Israeli security establishment is deeply concerned by US President Donald Trump\u2019s massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed Israel\u2019s national security because he neither prevented nor tried to minimize the damage of the accord.<\/span><\/p>\n

The approximately $110 billion weapons deal is the largest in American history and includes advanced air defense systems, ships, helicopters, intelligence-gathering aircraft, tanks, artillery and cybersecurity systems, according to the US State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to The Times of Israel at our offices in Jerusalem, Lapid said that the way Netanyahu addressed the deal, both before it was announced and after, was \u201calmost reckless\u201d and ignored key Israeli security concerns. Under internal political pressure for Trump\u2019s visit to Israel to appear a flawless success, Lapid said, the prime minster neglected to protect Israel\u2019s interests in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lapid said Israel did not know about the deal ahead of time \u2014 but it would have, had there been a properly functioning Foreign Ministry and a full-time foreign minister.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he raised specific concerns about some of the materiel that is being supplied to the Saudis. \u201cSaudi Arabia is the most powerful Sunni country. Terrorist groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda are Sunni, and millions of people in the country support Islamic State and Al Qaeda,\u201d Lapid noted. \u201cSo even if the threat doesn\u2019t come from Saudi Arabia itself, these weapons are an inch away from the Sunni terrorists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump (C-L) and Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (C-R) arrive for the Arabic Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017 (AFP PHOTO \/ MANDEL NGAN)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, Lapid highlighted the strategic partnership agreement, announced as part of the deal, between Raytheon, the contractor representing Israel for sales of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system to the US, and the Saudi government. Under the agreement, Raytheon will build Saudi Arabia a cybersecurity center that Lapid is worried may one day be used to carry out cyberattacks against Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis worries me because once you give them the cyber ability, you cannot tell them that they can only direct it towards Iran. No, it\u2019s going to be directed towards Israel as well,\u201d he said emphatically.<\/span><\/p>\n

The offensive cyber capabilities that Saudi Arabia will receive as part of the accord could cause untold havoc in Israel, Lapid warned. \u201cThey could shut down the electricity in the room we are sitting in,\u201d he said. \u201cThey could penetrate Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lapid, a former finance minister who sits on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee\u2019s subcommittee on security and intelligence matters, said he was not alone in his bleak analysis of the deal, and there was deep concern in \u201cthe entire security establishment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the minister of defense is saying the opposite thing from the prime minister, you know that something is wrong. The Israeli military establishment is worried. This is a big deal,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wave after delivering a speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on May 23, 2017. (Gil Cohen-Magen\/AFP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most notable aspects of the deal is that the Saudis will receive the Americans\u2019 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system. This is the same type of battery that the US recently deployed in South Korea to help defend it against an increasingly aggressive Pyongyang. Lapid said the worry is not just in Saudi Arabia owning the system, but in the possibility of it being deployed across the Middle East and therefore limiting Israel\u2019s aerial superiority in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu was under pressure for this visit to be successful for domestic political reasons,\u201d Lapid said. And \u201cthere\u2019s nothing wrong with fully embracing the president.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYet, I am concerned about the things that weren\u2019t done,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand that everybody wanted to have a perfect visit. And yet, is is part of policy to tell the American president, \u2018Listen, we appreciate the friendship, but we are unhappy with the fact that you\u2019re selling arms to the Saudis for $110 billion without even consulting us.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

By not doing so, Netanyahu \u201cignored what is essential Israeli security,\u201d according to Lapid, who said that the prime minister was desperate for Trump\u2019s visit to Israel to be a success. \u201cOur defense minister said he is very worried, and the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said there is nothing to worry about. Who should we believe? [Defense Minister Avigdor] Liberman, who represents the entire Israeli defense system, or the Prime Minster\u2019s Office, which was preoccupied with the fact that they don\u2019t want to ruin the visit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Trump\u2019s visit to Israel last week, Liberman said he was uneasy over the deal announced over the weekend when the US president was in Riyadh and believed it was part of a \u201ccrazy\u201d regional arms race. \u201cI\u2019m not at peace with any arms race and the huge Saudi purchase for sure doesn\u2019t add much to our peace of mind,\u201d Liberman said in an interview with Army Radio last Wednesday, adding that he had expressed his concerns in recent talks with US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hours later, Netanyahu said the US had agreed to boost the defense aid it gives to Israel and would ensure that the country maintained its qualitative advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Lapid said that if he were prime minister, he would have worked to prevent the deal from happening in the first place and publicly spoken out against it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all I would have the kind of functional Foreign Ministry that would make sure we know these things in advance, not finding out during the ceremony in Riyadh. And I would have a foreign minister who is capable of talking to the State Department,\u201d he said. Since the 2015 elections, Netanyahu has resisted appointing a full-time foreign minister, instead holding the position himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Lapid, had Israel known the extent of the deal beforehand, efforts could have been made via AIPAC and US lawmakers to put pressure on the Trump administration. \u201cThere are a bunch of things that could have been done, and none of them were,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the general types of weapons and systems that will be sold, many of the specifics about the deal have yet to be released, he noted. But a large influx of advanced military technology into the region should be of the utmost concern to Israel and therefore to the United States, which must continue to preserve the Jewish state\u2019s \u201cqualitative military edge\u201d \u2014 its military advantage over surrounding Middle East countries, Lapid said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A US THAAD interceptor defense system during a test launch (Screen capture: YouTube)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

read more: Israeli … are worried by Trump\u2019s Saudi arms deal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Entire Israeli security establishment is worried by Trump\u2019s Saudi arms deal RAOUL WOOTLIFF AND RAPHAEL AHREN Kowtowing to US president, Netanyahu left Israel vulnerable by failing to prevent or even criticize massive, dangerous DC-Riyadh accord, says Yesh Atid leader Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90) Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said Monday that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52570"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52572,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52570\/revisions\/52572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}