The Biden administration should not be dictating to Israel what it can and cannot do in order to defend itself against Hamas and other dangerous forces in the region, Rep. Andy Ogles told Newsmax on Tuesday.
The Tennessee Republican was responding to Secretary of State Antony Blinken's press conference in Tel Aviv in which he outlined steps all parties to the conflict, including Israel, should take in order to reduce tensions and provide a path to a diplomatic solution.
Ogles told Newsmax's "Newsline" that "therein lies the problem, Secretary Blinken trying to tell Israel what they can and cannot do as it pertains to their domestic and foreign policy."
The congressman stressed that "if Israel decides it needs to pay back the Palestinian people and Hamas in biblical proportions, it should be up to the Israeli government and the Israeli people to decide what to do, not the woke Biden administration."
Ogles specifically said he was offended by the idea that the United Nations would have an assessment mission within the boundaries of Israel.
He also slammed the entire idea that a two-state solution should be a plan for the future, pointing out that such a proposal has been on the table for decades and has not brought any peace to Israel, which instead has been under constant attack and threat.
Ogles said that the two-state solution "did not work and is not going to work, and I am offended that Blinken has the audacity to try to dictate to Israel, to its prime minister, what Israel's foreign and domestic policy should be."
He added that the Biden administration "is meddling where they shouldn't be, where they don't have an area of expertise."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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