Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used Sunday’s cabinet meeting to reject recent suggestions that the US is dictating security policy in Gaza.
“Israel is an independent state, the United States is an independent state,” Netanyahu said.
“The relations between us are those of partners,” he said, adding: “I want to clarify one thing – it is our own security policy. We are not ready to tolerate attacks against us, we respond to attacks at our own discretion, as we saw in Lebanon and Gaza.”
Netanyahu also said Israel was not seeking approval for military strikes and addressed the issue of international teams to monitor the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Israel’s security policy is governed by discretion
“We are in control of our own security and we have made it clear to the international forces that Israel will determine which forces are acceptable to us and that is how we will operate and will continue to operate,” he said.
Netanyahu’s response comes after US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel followed the arrival of Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Vance and the Israeli leader supported each other’s efforts to secure a cease-fire agreement that went into effect on October 10.
Vance assures Israel of US partnership, not dominance
But as a number of U.S. representatives flocked to Israel this week after flare-ups of violence threatened to undermine the truce, Vance also appeared to be trying to reassure Israel’s leader — and the world — that the U.S. was not going to overstep.
“We don’t want a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is. We don’t want a client state,” he said. “We want a partnership.
Later this week, he clarified the Americans’ role in Israel as the cease-fire looked fragile and the path to a second phase deal seemed uncertain.
It wasn’t about “monitoring in the sense of, you know, you’re monitoring a toddler. It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people doing the work, and it’s important that the governance principles continue to ensure that our people are doing what we need them to do,” Vance said.
International security forces in Gaza remain unclear
The planned international security force in Gaza loomed as a big question mark.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said that “many of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in and around the Middle East” had “explicitly and forcefully informed me, with great enthusiasm, that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force.”
He added that he had “said ‘NOT YET’ to these countries and Israel” but warned that if Hamas “does not do what is right” or violates the ceasefire agreement, the militant group could come to an end “QUICKLY, RAPIDLY AND BRUTALLY”.
The president did not directly mention the international security force he envisions entering Gaza to help keep peace in the territory in the future under his 20-point plan, but he appeared to be referring to the initiative.
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Vance said Tuesday that the international stabilization force envisioned by the president was still in the early stages of planning, as he acknowledged that coordinating troops from different countries could be a difficult task.
He hinted that the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Turkey and Indonesia could be involved alongside the Israeli military, saying: “How do you actually get these people to work together in a way that actually leads to long-term peace?
It remains unclear which nations, if any, have volunteered forces for the job, but Netanyahu appeared to counter any possibility of Turkish forces being involved, saying on Wednesday that he had “very strong views” on the matter.
The press conference came after flare-ups of violence in Gaza in recent days threatened to derail the ceasefire agreement.
Israel accused Hamas of attacking Israeli forces in the enclave, which the militant group denied, with Israeli troops responding with deadly airstrikes.
Israel and Hamas have also clashed over delays in returning the bodies of hostages and persistent barriers to access to the enclave.
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