Israel is a sovereign state, US not dictating actions in Gaza: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions on national security matters, in the wake of growing rumblings that key decisions about the future of the Gaza Strip are being made in Washington. He also specified that Israel would determine which countries would be permitted to send troops to Gaza within the framework of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu blasted “ridiculous claims about the relationship between the United States and Israel.” “When I was in Washington, [people] said I control the American government, that I dictate its security policy,” he said. “Now they claim the opposite — that the American administration controls me and dictates Israel’s security policy.” “Neither is true,” Netanyahu declared.
“Israel is a sovereign state,” the prime minister stressed. “The United States is a sovereign state. Our relationship is a partnership.” “I want to make one thing clear — our security policy is in our own hands,” Netanyahu continued. “We will not tolerate attacks against us; we respond at our discretion to attacks, as we have done in Lebanon and most recently in Gaza. We dropped 150 tons on Hamas and on terror elements after the attack on our two soldiers. And of course we also thwart dangers while they are forming before they are carried out, as we did only yesterday in the Gaza Strip.”
Netanyahu said that Israel “does not seek anyone’s approval for that. We control our own security and we have also made clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us — that is how we act and will continue to act.