Turkiye President Erdogan Delivers Surprising And Depressing Opinion About Gaza Reconstruction- Which Will Have Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu Dancing The Horah
Turkiye President Erdogan Delivers Surprising And Depressing Opinion About Gaza Reconstruction- Which Will Have Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu Dancing The Horah
Israel Can Put Away Its Checkbook. Keep The Shekels In The Piggybank.
A Message To Putin And Zelensky?
Israel Has Approximately US$200 Billion In Foreign Reserves. 18th Largest In The World. With US$522 Billion, Ranks 29th Of 193 Countries Globally By Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
On 7 October 2024, one year will have passed since the government of the State of Israel instructed the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to unleash what has resulted in the near total physical destruction infrastructure and structures throughout Gaza in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. The IDF has also focused its destructive efforts in the West Bank.
According to reports published by the New York, New York-based United Nations (UN), the cost to reconstruct in Gaza is approximately US$18.5 billion- and increasing every day due to new decisions implemented by the IDF.
On 22 September 2024, in a conference room at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Turkiye to the United Nations, the Ankara, Turkiye-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) coordinated an intimately-seated gathering of leadership from United States-based think tanks to meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ), and officials of the government of the Republic of Turkiye including Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Treasury and Finance; Omer Bolat, Minister of Trade; Ahmet Yıldız, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkiye to the United Nations; Ibrahim Kalin, Director of National Intelligence Organization; Fahrettin Altun, Director of Communications for Turkiye Presidency, and members of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkiye. The roundtable lasted for approximately two hours. Quotations were not permitted.
Answering the final question posed to him, President Erdogan shared that the government of the State of Israel will never agree to make payments to fund the reconstruction of Gaza which the IDF has destroyed during the nearing last twelve months.
The Question: You [Mr. President] are the most vocal head of state advocating to hold accountable the government of the State of Israel and the IDF for decisions impacting Gaza. Officials at the United Nations, within the Biden-Harris Administration (2021-2025), European Union (EU), banking institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund), and Muslim-led governments particularly those in the Gulf Region, continue to speak of funding the reconstruction of Gaza. Should not the government of the State of Israel, with its approximately US$200 billion in foreign reserves, fund in totality the approximately US$18.5 billion to reconstruct Gaza? Why should taxpayers in Turkiye and other countries pay for what the IDF did in Gaza?
President Erdogan responded that taxpayers in other countries will in the end pay to reconstruct Gaza. The government of the State of Israel will not be required to use any of its approximately US$200 billion in foreign reserves. They will not volunteer to pay. Demands that they pay will be met with silence. They will never pay anything.
Consequently, President Erdogan offered that he believed the lead role in funding the reconstruction of Gaza will be borne by United States taxpayers and that other country taxpayers would then augment that contribution.
Tellingly, the 24 September 2024 statement from the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the High-Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly did not address the reconstruction of Gaza.
Given President Erdogan said the government of the State of Israel will never pay for what it has directed the IDF to do in Gaza was extraordinary for its candid appraisal, but depressing in what it means for taxpayers in many countries and for current conflicts.
If the government of the State of Israel is absolved from financial responsibility for that it chose to do to in Gaza, what is the message to Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (2000-2008 and 2012- ), and Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019- )?
The government of the Russian Federation could make an argument that if the government of the State of Israel is not required to make a payment, then why should the government of the Russian Federation make a payment to the government of Ukraine? That the approximately US$320 billion in assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation which have been frozen in various countries should be returned.
Hopefully, President Erdogan is wrong and Muslim-led nations and non-Muslim-led nations will insist that the government of the State of Israel fund the reconstruction of Gaza and pay damages to residents of Gaza who have legitimate claims. The following statements, however, reinforce President Erdogan.
“And this needs a long-term commitment, political, but also in financial terms from the different stakeholders, but also private sector and investors. But we need to start the plans now.” Sigrid Kaag
“… where we can rebuild Gaza,” Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (2021-2025)
“… reconstruction, which would be largely taken, I think, by the international community.” Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Of The State Of Israel (2022- , 2009-2021, 1996-1999)
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkiye, and United Arab Emirates must remain unified. They should not pay to reconstruct Gaza. The government of the State of Israel must pay for what it destroyed.
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