JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel’s enemies are using the hasty US pullout from Afghanistan against the Jewish State, and they are wasting no time in taking action.
Col. Richard Kemp, former British commander in Afghanistan, sees Afghanistan becoming a major training ground for terrorists to attack the West.
“The minute Biden declared his withdrawal, the Taliban immediately declared victory before anything else happened,” Kemp told journalists in a Media Central briefing. “That was echoed by Jihadists all around the world and they’ve been encouraged and inspired by this.”
“I think we are now about to enter the situation where the terrorist threat will be at least as high from Afghanistan as it was from the Islamic State when it controlled vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq,” he added.
For Israel, the threat is immediate. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says the US behavior during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan indicates “the moral downfall of America” and he said it shows that Israel can’t rely on the USA.
“They evacuated the dogs who worked in the security forces, but not those who aided them. They took out their equipment but left the human beings behind… these are the Americans,” Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah called on those living in the region to draw specific conclusions from the Taliban victory. Then within hours, the Iranian-backed terrorist group issued a warning about an oil tanker departing Iran bound for Lebanon.
“The tanker is coming from Iran and will sail in a few hours. I tell the Americans and Israelis that this is Lebanese territory,” he said.
Earlier, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk praised the Taliban victory in a tweet.
“They confronted America and its agents and refused to compromise with them. They were not deceived by bright headlines about ‘democracy’ and ‘elections,’” Marzouk said.
Hamas delivered another message in the form of a rocket, the first since May’s 11-day war with Israel.
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While touring the site, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet sent his own message.
“We will operate at a time, place and conditions that suit us, and not anyone else. As far as we’re concerned, the address (the ones responsible) in Gaza is Hamas – not rebellious groups or anybody else, only Hamas,” said Bennett.
On Facebook, Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu posted about being invited to Afghanistan in 2013 by then-Secretary of State John Kerry.
“The message was clear – the ′Afghanistan Model’ is the model the United States seeks to implement in the Palestinian matter as well. I politely refused the offer… I estimated then that once the US leaves Afghanistan – everything will collapse….We will get the same result if God forbid we deliver the homeland to the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu.
Bennett is making his first trip to Washington next week to meet with President Biden. According to the White House, they will discuss peace talks with the Palestinians as well as Iran.
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