Trump, President of Israeli Settlers

Published in Tribune de Genève
(Switzerland) on 23 January 2017
by Andrés Allemand (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Cynthia Perez. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
If Donald Trump were an Israeli politician, it is possible he would be ranked more politically conservative than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But David Friedman, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, would clearly be on the far right. He supports Jewish settlement in the West Bank, has advocated for the annexation of Palestinian territories, militates against the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel ... and calls every Jew that is favorable to a Palestinian state a "collaborator."

David Friedman has spent recent decades raising funds overseas for Beit El, one of the oldest and most militant Jewish settlements in the West Bank. For some time now, he has had the support of Jared Kushner’s family. Kushner, who in 2009 married a certain Ivanka Trump, daughter of the New York multibillionaire and recently elected president of the United States, was just named senior adviser to the latter.

In fact, Trump himself signed a check for $10,000 for Beit El in 2003. Yet this ultra-orthodox settlement has a famous extreme right rabbi and is the headquarters of religious Zionists' favorite online news site. Among the most well known residents is Netanyahu's brother-in-law, who is never to shy about publicly accusing the prime minister of being "cautious" in terms of colonization.

In Washington, supported by evangelical voters who almost unconditionally support Israeli leaders, Trump and the team he has chosen are therefore at the service of Jewish settlers, themselves continually pulling Netanyahu's coalition further to the right. Suffice it to say that the Palestinian people are railing or despairing, depending. In any case, they've lost the little hope they had left. In these circumstances, a single spark can set a fire.


Trump, président des colons israéliens



Si Donald Trump était un politicien israélien, il serait peut-être classé à droite du premier ministre Benjamin Netanyahou. Mais ce qui est sûr, c’est que David Friedman, nouvel ambassadeur des Etats-Unis auprès de l’Etat hébreu, figurerait clairement à l’extrême droite. Il soutient la colonisation juive en Cisjordanie, prône l’annexion de territoires palestiniens, milite contre l’établissement d’un véritable Etat palestinien à côté d’Israël… et traite de «collabo» tout juif qui s’y montrerait favorable.

David Friedman a passé les dernières décennies à collecter des fonds outre-Atlantique pour financer Beit El, une des implantations juives parmi les plus anciennes et les plus militantes en Cisjordanie. Depuis longtemps, il a gagné à sa cause la famille de Jared Kushner, lequel a épousé en 2009 une certaine Ivanka Trump, fille du multimilliardaire new-yorkais qui vient d’accéder à la présidence des Etats-Unis. Or, ce dernier vient de le nommer conseiller spécial.

Pour tout dire, Donald Trump lui-même a signé un chèque de 10 000 dollars pour Beit El en 2003. Cette implantation ultraorthodoxe compte pourtant un célèbre rabbin d’extrême droite et c’est le siège du site d’information en ligne préféré des sionistes religieux. Parmi les résidents les plus connus, figure le beau-frère de Benjamin Netanyahou, qui ne se gêne jamais pour accuser publiquement le premier ministre d’être «frileux» en matière de colonisation.

A Washington, porté par l’électorat évangélique qui soutient quasi inconditionnellement les autorités israéliennes, Donald Trump et l’équipe qu’il s’est choisie sont donc au service du mouvement des colons juifs… qui tire sans cesse plus à droite la coalition de Benjamin Netanyahou. Autant dire que les Palestiniens fulminent ou se désespèrent, c’est selon. En tous les cas, ils ont perdu le peu d’espoir qui leur restait. Dans ces conditions, la moindre étincelle peut mettre le feu aux poudres.
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