10 | FEBRUARY 2 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY

annexation, or even pseudo-annexation 
by lining up all the outposts, that [those 
things] don’t work for us,
” Nides continued.
Indeed, hours before the interview, 
Netanyahu publicly backed Defense 
Minister Yoav Gallant, who had ordered 
the dismantlement of an illegal outpost 
that was set up overnight in the West Bank 
— posing an early test for the fledgling 
government, in which supporters of such 
wildcat construction hold prominent roles.
The U.S. ambassador expressed 
confidence that the new government would 
also be willing to go along with the measures 
Biden promoted with the last coalition to 
boost the Palestinian economy, such as 
extending 4G cellular service to Palestinians 
in the West Bank and Gaza. The president 
announced the latter initiative during his 
trip to the region in July, but there has 
been no progress reported with regard to 
its implementation since, and Palestinian 
Authority officials have expressed skepticism 
over the likelihood that Israel will ever 
greenlight the project.
Nonetheless, Nides said he saw “no 
indications” of the new government 
walking back the commitments made 
by the previous one on that issue. 
Netanyahu “told us he took down a lot of 
the checkpoints. I think he believes in [a] 
strong economy for the Palestinians.
”
“We’ll see what that means in practice,
” 
the ambassador continued. “I’m sure there 
are other people in his government who 
feel differently.
”

THE TEMPLE MOUNT
In addition to lowering the flames in Israel’s 
West Bank “backyard,
” Nides stressed that 

doing the same on Jerusalem’s flashpoint 
Temple Mount was also a top priority for 
the administration.
So far that front hasn’t been a blazing 
success, after far-right National Security 
Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the 
compound at the beginning of the month, 
sparking a massive international uproar 
and even an emergency meeting of the 
U.N. Security Council.
The U.S. embassy in Israel issued a 
statement at the time, saying, “
Ambassador 
Nides has been very clear in conversations 
with the Israeli government on the issue 
of preserving the status quo in Jerusalem’s 
holy sites. Actions that prevent that are 
unacceptable.
”
Pressed to specify whether he considered 
Ben Gvir’s visit a violation of the status 
quo — under which Muslims are allowed 
to pray at the site they refer to as the 
Noble Sanctuary, while non-Muslims 
can only visit — Nides balked. “I’m not 
here to define whether just going up and 
going down is [a violation of the] status 
quo or not. My goal here is to keep calm. 
That would suggest to people that I’m not 
supportive of trying to do things to rile 
people up.
“We weren’t supportive of that visit, 
given the context,
” Nides said, noting how 
Ben Gvir had previously campaigned on 
reversing the status quo on the Temple 
Mount to allow Jews to pray there. The 
national security minister has not called 
for following through on that effort since 
entering office, though he has denounced 
what he describes as the “racist” policies 
governing the site.
Nides said that he received assurances 

that Netanyahu will preserve the status quo 
at the Temple Mount, but the ambassador 
acknowledged that those did not include a 
commitment that such visits by Ben Gvir 
would cease moving forward.

JUDICIAL REFORM
While Biden administration officials might 
have planned to limit their conversations 
with the Netanyahu government to larger 
foreign policy issues, the news cycle in 
Israel seems to have other plans.
Sullivan also raised during his meeting 
with Netanyahu the new coalition’s highly 
controversial plan to significantly curtail 
the power of the judicial branch.
A week earlier, Nides indicated that the 
U.S. would not weigh in on the matter, 
telling the Kan public broadcaster, “The 
Israeli people don’t want to be lectured by 
America … Our job is not to impose our 
will on every decision this government 
makes vis-a-vis issues like judicial 
reform.”
The ambassador clarified in this 
interview that U.S. officials would still 
talk with their Israeli counterparts about 
“shared values and the importance of 
strong democratic institutions.
”
A strong Israeli democracy “gives us the 
ability to defend Israel at the U.N.,
” he said, 
highlighting a point used by detractors of 
the government’s judicial overhaul, who 
warn that targeting the High Court of 
Justice will hamper Jerusalem’s ability to 
defend itself in international tribunals.
“What we’re not doing though — 
certainly not at this point — is telling them 
how to construct their judicial system,
” 
Nides added. 

NETANYAHU HAS “BEEN AROUND 
THE BLOCK MULTIPLE TIMES AND 
UNDERSTANDS THIS BETTER” 
THAN ANYONE. “WE DON’T HAVE 
TO TEACH THIS GUY THE THINGS 
THAT WE CARE ABOUT.”

— U.S. AMBASSADOR TOM NIDES

KOBI GIDEON / GPO / TIMES OF ISRAEL

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan 
sit down in Jerusalem on Jan. 19. 

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