Israel has been so successful in lobbying the US political establishment that Washington essentially does the bidding of West Jerusalem, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
In an interview with the TRT broadcaster on Saturday, Fidan addressed the recent Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Lebanon that killed Hezbollah political leader Hassan Nasrallah. He added that recent events have shown that Türkiye’s worst fears about the Middle East conflict spilling over beyond the Palestinian enclave of Gaza have come true.
“In other words, we said that if Israel is not stopped, it will carry this war to other places… It seems that there is a serious desire in Israel, among [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his team, to expand the war to the region, and they are trying to advance this,” he said.
He went on to accuse the US of turning a blind eye to West Jerusalem’s actions, claiming that “Zionism has taken root in American politics.”
“The fact that the entire power of the American state has been transformed into a structure that serves Israel… is no longer a disturbing issue here, but has become an accepted fact of life. This, of course, makes sane Americans incredibly uncomfortable,” Fidan said
According to the foreign minister, some US politicians cannot publicly oppose this foreign policy if they wish to remain part of the system. “They are in such despair,” he added.
Fidan went on to say that Nasrallah was “an important figure in the region” and “the void left by his absence will be difficult to fill.”
Türkiye has been openly critical of Israel’s response to the surprise Hamas attack on the Jewish state last October, which has resulted in unprecedented destruction in Gaza, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan going so far as to compare Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Erdogan has also condemned Israel’s attack on Beirut, calling it a “massacre” that “no person of conscience can accept.”
The US remains a key ally of Israel in the region, supplying it with weapons. Following the assassination of Nasrallah, US President Joe Biden said the US “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah” and “other Iranian-supported terrorist groups.” He added that Nasrallah’s “death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”
