Netanyahu aide: Boston attack is good for Israel

A senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has voiced expectations that the Boston Marathon attacks will strengthen American support for Israel, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Monday.

Ron Dermer, the political advisor to Netanyahu, said that this was the case following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In a closed meeting with the heads of American Jewish organisations, it was reported that Dermer said: “If we look through history, a large [better] change happened after 9/11. After the tragic attack in Boston, I am sure that people [in America] will feel more sympathy with Israel and support its anti-terror fight.”

He also said: “We will succeed in keeping this support as the overwhelming majority of Americans take sides with Israel.”

Commenting on an analyst who said that Netanyahu “feels Joyful in fighting”, Dermer explained Netanyahu’s stance towards attacking Iran and towards developing Israeli weaponry.

“Netanyahu is extremely cautious regarding developing the military force,” Dermer said. He described the analyst’s description of Netanyahu as “Silly” and said that, “He is the Israeli prime minister who loves fighting the least. He wisely uses military force when needed and when it is fateful to Israel’s security.”

Dermer said that not including the first Israeli prime minister, David Ben Gurion, Netanyahu had had the longest period in office. “Like Ben Gurion, I believe that in the meantime, Netanyahu is going to take the necessary decisions even when faced with all the international pressure,” he said.

Regarding the situation in the West Bank, Dremer said that it is “bad.” He also said they, in Netanyahu’s office, feel that the situation is going to explode as a result of the current turmoil.

“I do not think that sacking Fayyad will be good for the peace process,” he said. “I see that Salam Fayyad was the first Palestinian leader in 100 years who was really concerned about the Palestinians. There were many leaders who were concerned about the Palestinian issue, but Fayyad was concerned about Palestinians.”

He denied that Fayyad was a Zionist, but said that “he was a real peace partner that wanted a better life for Palestinians.” He also said that any Palestinian leader who wanted a better life for Palestinians should accept peace with Israel.

Dremer said that Netanyahu concentrated on closing minor outstanding dossiers on his table in order to pay more attention to real strategic issues. He noted that the ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza and apology to Turkey are examples of the policy of “cleaning the table.”

He described Sinai as “the Wild West” where any imagined terrorist organisation has a branch.

According to Dremer, in Jordan, King Abdullah II is facing much internal pressure to carry out unprecedented political reforms.