Yaki Dayan, the former Israeli consul in Los Angeles, voiced deep concern about the recent developments between the US and Qatar, compared with the strained relations with Israel, during a Monday interview with 103FM.
Dayan expressed concern about the agreement expected to be signed between the US and Iran. “There is no alternative from Israel’s side, and on the Democratic [Party] side, there are no giant friends waiting at the door to embrace you,” he explained.
He also added: “Not only that, we hear Trump speaking about Qatar in terms that an American president previously used only about Israel. Washington’s favorite son is Qatar. We are seeing the emerging axis, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, and Turkey, which is also taking shape as a result of this war. The situation in Washington right now is a very serious problem; the question is how it will be translated into action.”
New Middle East axis?
Dayan also addressed the Qatar issue, which has caused growing concern, even more so recently: “Will there be hard moves on the ground? As long as it is talks between the prime minister and Trump, then that is fine, especially when Netanyahu insists that there be no link between Lebanon and Iran. That is what needs to be done; insist on that point. But there is no doubt it does not sound good.”
“It does not sound good that the American president keeps coming back and saying, ‘A tough man,’ ‘tough talks,’ ‘serious mistakes,’ that is how he speaks about Israel, and then we hear him speaking about Qatar and saying, ‘What a courageous country,’ and we see Saudi Arabia aligning with Pakistan and Turkey. Maybe we are seeing a new Middle East, but it is not the Middle East we wanted to see after the war with Iran,” he warned.
Better agreement with Iran, still not a solution to nuclear bomb
When asked about comparisons between the current agreement and the one signed in 2015, he replied: “We know how to compare it in the sense that there apparently are no missiles and no proxies. That was not in the 2015 agreement either.”
“In 2015, there really was a nuclear agreement. Here, there is still no nuclear agreement. There is only an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. They will talk for 60 days about the nuclear issue. If you go to places like Fox, they say Trump will not approve enrichment, which is what Obama did and allowed enrichment to a low level, all kinds of things like that. In the end, one must remember that there is no nuclear agreement right now,” he added.
He also explained that the agreement calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the blockade, something that Dayan described as “the strongest tool the Americans had,” while adding that the monetary side of the agreement will be key for its implementation.
“There will be money, or there will not be money. We are hearing absurd things, $300 billion to strengthen the Iranian economy. Lindsey Graham aptly described it as something like the Marshall Plan after World War II, only the Nazis remained in power. There are no missiles, there are no proxies, but the regime remains in place,” he said.
