By Mohammad Sarraf
TEHRAN – An Iraqi political commentator says that the prime minister of the Israeli regime is in a fragile condition and therefore he may ignite a fire in the region to save himself.
"He doesn't seem happy about entering jail; if he can't get away through immunity as a prime minister, then there is a risk that he could ignite a fire in the region to save himself," Feras Ali tells the Tehran Times.
"As some of his predecessors, he is facing corruption charges. This combination is a dangerous combination for a person like Netanyahu," he adds.
Israel is suffering a political crisis. Netanyahu is facing corruption charges and has failed to secure a solid parliamentary majority to form a government.
"Israel doesn't have a functional government as the different blocs can't have enough votes for a majority," Ali notes.
Political experts don't rule out Netanyahu's resort to war to distract his critics and opponents.
Following is the text of the interview:
Q: How do you see Israel's recent escalation against Iran in terms of sabotage operations and assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists?
A: It's a desperate move to block Iran's peaceful nuclear advancement but it won't succeed. The Iranians are known to be patient and can endure a lot without going astray from the goal. If these attacks lead to something, then it's only making Iran's nuclear progress even faster as the Iranians will get more determined to achieve their natural right. And these escalations have, without a doubt, an American green light. The Israelis are too small when it comes to Iran to dare to take such a bold step without U.S. backing. And as Ayatollah Khamenei said, a couple of years ago, the era of hit and run is long gone. The Israeli occupation leaders are living in a bubble, but they will be awakened by the decisive and rightful Iranian response. The Iranians are the only country taking direct action against a U.S. military base since 1945, so if they dare to stand up to the USA, then they will for sure be able to defend themselves against Israeli aggression.
Q: Is Iran or Israel a real threat to West Asia? Which of them has waged wars on its neighbors?
A: Iran has not initiated a war for about 2500 years. But the Israeli occupation is a regime surviving by warfare and was founded on genocide and warfare. Thus, it's very clear who the threat is in the region. Iran is one of the foremost countries when it comes to the defeat of Daesh in the region as Tehran sent its best advisors to the different frontlines in the war on terror. The great commander Soleimani spent more time on the frontlines against Daesh than in Iran in his last years. And besides, Israel continually violates regional countries sovereignty. Israel is also responsible for the assassination of scientists and different commanders in the region in addition to its wars. Recently they've not waged a regular war, but that's not because of any human rights accord or so. It's more because the resistance front has managed to build up a deterrence that the Israelis understand. The weakest point in the Israeli regime is, after all, domestic security. Their most advanced security machinery has not been able to defend the settlements from the range of the resistance front.
Q: How do you see the fate of normalization between certain Arab countries and Israel? Do you predict a durable peace for West Asia while Israel continues its expansionist projects?
A: The normalization is not going to give the region any durable peace. The old peace treaty between the Israeli occupation and the two Arab countries Egypt and Jordan is good proof of this. Despite having a peace deal, the Israeli occupation have furthered its plan of the annexation of the West Bank. The U.S. legitimized their occupation of the Golan Heights and gave all of Jerusalem. Despite this, some regional countries normalized ties with them. Some of them got empty promises. I think these countries were forced to normalize their ties with Israel. Most of them had already secret ties with Israel; they only made it official now. Anyhow, this won't change anything as these Arab states do not represent their nations who fully support the Palestinian cause.
Q: Do you think that Netanyahu and his government can maintain the position they had during the Trump administration? What are Netanyahu's main challenges domestically?
A: When it comes to Israel, there is no difference really between the Republicans or the Democrats. Both sides support Israel. The new administration has not shown any interest in moving back the U.S. embassy to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem or take back the U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli land. Yet I agree there are small differences, just as there is a small difference between sugar-free coke and regular coke. Netanyahu's problem is mainly internal. Israel doesn't have a functional government as the different blocs can't have enough votes for a majority. They are probably facing their 5th elections since 2019. Besides that, as some of his predecessors, he is facing corruption charges. This combination is a dangerous combination for a person like Netanyahu. He doesn't seem happy about entering jail; if he can't get away through immunity as a prime minister, then there is a risk that he could ignite a fire in the region to save himself.
Q: What are the differences between Biden and Trump when it comes to their plans for West Asia?
A: The only apparent difference is the method. The U.S. always prefers Israel's interests above all in the region. So, it's actually about how you do that. With Trump, you had a gambler who didn't care about what's a political right; he said what he liked and did what he wanted openly. Like when he honestly said that U.S. troops are in Syria for the purpose of Syrian oil. A Biden administration would probably do the same in Syria as they are doing by continuing the policy of Trump there. But they're not honest about why, they are using pretty words like human rights and democracy instead to fool people. As far as I see it, Biden could pose a bigger threat for naive people he could easily fool. Let's take a quick look at the Iran nuclear deal as an example. It was accepted and ratified by a U.S. administration whose VP was Biden. Yet the U.S. never implemented the deal in full back then. And now Biden is trying to delay U.S. implementation of the deal with different excuses. While in reality, he could easily, with a presidential waiver, return the U.S. to the JCPOA by abandoning all the Trump-era sanctions.
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