Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said on Wednesday morning that if he were an American, he would vote for the Republican Party.
“Look at Biden’s strategy in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Middle East. He said ‘Don’t’ to Hezbollah and Iran at the beginning of the war, and we saw the result,” Chikli told Kan Bet. “I don’t think that the United States under [Biden’s] leadership radiates power.” His administration “hurts the State of Israel and many other countries.”
Chikli belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
Biden's "weak" statements
The minister said in the interview that Biden’s “weak” statements against the antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses throughout the United States and his objection to Israel’s operation in Rafah are influenced by “squad” members.
“He is indeed a friend of Israel but he is under immense pressure that significantly impacts and causes real harm to the relationship between the two countries,” the he stated.
Chikli explained that Qatar provides American college campuses with a significant amount of money, which mainly influences faculty in humanities departments.
He added that the departments teach “woke culture,” which divides the world into oppressors and oppressed, and “Israel and the white man are the oppressors, and the Palestinians are the most oppressed.”
Chikli emphasized that there needs to be more support for students dealing with antisemitism on campus and more opportunities for them to study in Israel as an alternative option.
In February, another minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet, Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, also criticized Biden and praised Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“Instead of giving us his full backing, [President Joe] Biden is busy giving humanitarian aid and fuel, which goes to Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “If Trump were in power, the US’s conduct would be completely different.”