RICHARD SILVERSTEIN, richards1052@gmail.com, @richards1052
Silverstein writes at Tikun Olam. On Tuesday, Trump won the U.S. election and Netanyhu fired Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, see piece by Silverstein.
In another recent piece for Middle East Eye, Silverstein wrote: “Jared Kushner, a senior foreign policy adviser under Trump’s presidency, suggested that Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable.’ There’s nothing like turning genocide into a real estate deal.”
While many are claiming alleged Iranian, Russian and Chinese interference in the U.S. election, Silverstein has highlighted Israel’s under-scrutinized role. In “Kushner and Netanyahu Conspired With Flynn in Rogue U.S. Foreign Policy Operation,” Silverstein wrote: “It never ceases to amaze me how intrusive Israel’s penetration of U.S. foreign policy is.” Silverstein was among the first to highlight Israeli’s scandalous connections to Trump. See 2017 IPA news release “Is Flynn/Kushner Actually Israelgate?”
After Trump won the 2016 election, the Obama administration finally, after years of stalling, allowed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s building of settlements.
Netanyahu asked the Trump transition team to lobby other countries to help Israel stop the resolution from passing. Netanyahu would sleep in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s bed when he visited New York.
Kushner ordered Gen. Michael Flynn (who would become Trump’s national security advisor) to contact the Russian government.
On Dec. 22, 2016, Flynn contacted then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, asking the Russians to delay the vote until Trump got into office and could then veto it.
That was the origin of “Russiagate,” which dominated U.S. political discourse for years. It was an attempt by the incoming Trump administration to get Russia to help Israel.
Earlier this year, Ben Gvir, Israel’s far rightwing minister of national security, openly endorsed Trump.
See from James Bamford: “The Trump Campaign’s Collusion With Israel” and from Sam Husseini: “‘Russiagate’ Was Israelgate.”