Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Wednesday that Israel has no policy objective in Gaza other than to maintain peace and quiet, while also expressing his views on the recent American pullout from Afghanistan.
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"We are not interested in going back to Gaza. We are not interested in choking Gaza in sieges. We just want to make sure nobody is firing rockets and missiles on us," the foreign minister told reporters in an English-language briefing to mark the upcoming Jewish new year.
"And if Hamas will guarantee peace and quiet, they can guarantee also the economy, a functioning economy and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," Lapid continued.
Israel's top diplomat said that the new government sworn in this past June represents a change in the Jewish state's foreign policy.
"We believe it's time to show the world a different face of Israel, a thriving liberal democracy," Lapid said, before delving into a wide range of issues, including Israel's "two largest security and policy challenges" in Iran and Hezbollah.
Lapid said that while Israel disagrees with the US administration on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the stalled Vienna talks means that other options should be considered to counter the Iranian threat, a point that US President Joe Biden made last week at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
"The world needs a 'plan B,' and Iran needs to know there is a credible threat on it, if they will keep on advancing their nuclear program as they do now," Lapid said.
Asked about the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Lapid said that exiting was the "right decision" but "wasn't performed in the right manner," suggesting to listen to Biden's speech on why the move was necessary after 20 years of US military involvement in the central Asian nation now ruled by the Taliban following the US withdrawal.
"We should wait a little before we jump to conclusions about what exactly is going to be the aftermath of this," Lapid said.
The foreign minister said in his remarks that the reopening of an independent US consulate in Jerusalem that would serve the Palestinians without reporting to the US Embassy is a "bad idea," with the action sending the "wrong message" that could "destabilize" the fragile coalition cobbled together that succeeded in removing Benjamin Netanyahu from power after 12 years as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.
"We have an interesting and yet delicate structure of our government and we think this might destabilize this government and I don't think the American administration wants this to happen," he said.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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