Khaberni - Israeli writer Carolina Landsman said that people who believe the new American presence in the region is limited to managing the Gaza Strip need to reconsider, indicating that the United States today exercises actual sovereignty within Israel itself, while the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is satisfied with symbolic and rhetorical sovereignty over Palestinian territories.
A child playing with legislations!
Landsman considered in an article published by Haaretz, not without irony, that the great irony lies in the fact that the Knesset proudly votes on laws "applying sovereignty over the West Bank, while the government voluntarily relinquishes its sovereignty within the Green Line in favor of the United States, which has established a military base in Kiryat Gat, a scene that encapsulates, according to the writer, Israel's transformation from an independent state to an Israeli authority under American trusteeship."
She added that the Knesset continues the "game of pretending sovereignty," by passing laws that have no practical value except those related to local or health affairs, mockingly asking, "When was the last time the Knesset legislated a law that served the public interest?"
Landsman also touched upon the statements of Vice President JD Vance who commented on the Knesset's last vote regarding the West Bank saying, "If people want to have a symbolic vote, they can do so", clearly indicating - as she says - that Israel is no longer the decision maker in matters of sovereignty or security.
The writer added that this phrase sums up the American stance on Israel today, where the White House views the Israeli government as "a little child playing with legislations with his imaginary friends from the far right," and she added that Vance expressed the American "paternal" policy towards Israel, referring to the presence of American advisors and officers in government meetings and their daily follow-ups on the details of field and political decisions.
Landsman said that this scene is "the updated version of the Oslo Accords," but this time inside Israel itself. After the West Bank was divided according to this agreement into Areas (A), (B), and (C) managed according to security and civil arrangements, the writer saw that we might be facing "Area (D)", areas within the Green Line under American civil and security control under the name "Israeli authority".
She added sarcastically, "You ask who is the Israeli authority? It is simply what was previously known as the state of Israel".
Internationalizing the region
The writer saw that Israel had left no other choice for Washington, referring to the statement of American President Donald Trump, "If I hadn't stopped Netanyahu, he would have continued the war for years," explaining that this statement expresses a late American realization of what she described as Netanyahu's "historical fraud", which made the United States realize that the problem is not only with "the other side", but also with the Israeli leadership itself.
The writer attacked the Israeli right wing which raised the slogan "the people are the sovereign" as part of what was called "the judicial reform", considering that this slogan was not an expression of strength, but of political and structural incapacity. She added, "When Minister of Justice Yariv Levin wanted to return power to the people, it seems he meant the American people, as sovereignty has effectively moved into the hands of Washington".
At the end of her article, the writer warned that what is happening may not be just a transitional phase to reform the relationship between Israel and the United States or to arrange the situation in Gaza, but possibly the beginning of a deeper process of voluntary annexation of the United States to Israel, or even a comprehensive internationalization of the region between the river and the sea.
And Landsman concluded her article with a tone of sad irony, "Anyone who thinks that the Americans are here just to manage Gaza needs to reconsider his opinion. They are here also to manage Israel."
