Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir gave an interview to the Wall Street journal. In the interview Ben Gvir criticized US President Joe Biden saying that Biden has pressured Israel to give humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza, which mostly goes to Hamas, instead of supporting Israel fully. Ben Gvir also said that if Trump would have been in power now, US conduct would have been different.

First, I dont know if we can really say US conduct would have been different - according to Trump had he been US president Hamas would have never attacked Israel in the first place (and Russia would not have attacked Ukraine, but that's not relevant).

Second, I dont like "what if" statements, or any type of statement that requires prophecy. If Trump would have been President. Maybe yes, maybe no. We dont know what would have happened. Especially with Trump who is so unpredictable.

And third, while Ben Gvir's intervention, or meddling, in US politics does not bother me, considering the recent statements from Biden's people about Netanyahu and Ben Gvir, tit for tat and all that, how smart is it? Pressure or no pressure, humanitarian aid or no humanitarian aid, truth or not truth (there are reports Netanyahu pushed to send in aid before Biden ever got involved in that), how smart is it to be a senior part of the government and to criticize the US administration that is sending financial and military aid to help Israel conduct the war?

Besides for all the general criticism that has been thrown at Ben Gvir since the statements were published from the regular players (ie Lapid, Gantz, Michaeli, commentators, etc), some criticism has also come out form some more interesting places.

A little earlier today MK Aryeh Deri (Shas) put out his own statement on Twitter backhandedly criticizing Ben Gvir and thanking President Biden in what seems to be an attempt to fix what Ben Gvir might have broken..

"Thank you, President of the United States Joe Biden. The people of Israel will forever remember you for standing with Israel during some of our toughest hours. You and America are kingdoms of kindness. Even among friends and allies, there are differences of opinion. You are…

— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) February 4, 2024

And since then PM Netanyahu has also put out a statement to that effect saying "I dont need help knowing how to navigate our relationship with the USA and international community while staying strong in our national interests. Thank God I have been doing this for several years. Israel is a sovereign state, we value the support received from the Biden administration since the outbreak of the war - support with armaments, in international institutions, sending forces to the area, etc. That does not mean there are not disagreements among us, but until now we have known how to overcome the disagreements."

Ben Gvir is the Opposition within the government. He is in government, and stays in despite all the things Netanyahu does that he seriously disagrees with, but opposes the government frequently. He is either supremely coordinated with Netanyahu to make Netanyahu more palatable tot he public and international community or he is Netanyahu's biggest headache.