Took 16 Days For Biden-Harris Administration To Reinforce Prediction Of Turkiye President Erdogan. State Department Spokesperson Won’t Even Say The Six Letters.
Only 16 Days For Biden-Harris Administration To Prove Turkiye President Erdogan Was Accurate.
Matthew Lee, State Department Correspondent, Associated Press (AP), to Matthew Miller, Spokesperson, United States Department of State, on 7 October 2024:
QUESTION: Can I get to the very specific point here? Do you think Israel should contribute to this?
MR MILLER: I think we are a long way from the reconstruction of Gaza, and I – I’m not going to make any pronouncements from the podium about who should pay for the reconstruction before we get into what would be a – what would be a diplomatic —
QUESTION: Let me just continue with a couple of questions, although it was Israel that dropped close to 50,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, rendering what it is now. So maybe they ought to pay for it.
MR MILLER: In response to a war that Hamas starts.
On 22 September 2024 During The UNGA, Turkiye President Erdogan Said Israel Will Not Pay Anything For The Reconstruction Of Gaza.
He Said Taxpayers In The United States Would Likely Pay The Most Followed By Other Countries.
Sixteen Days Later, The United States Department Of State Telegraphed What President Erdogan Believed.
Spokesperson Would Not Even Suggest Israel Might Be The Party Or Among The Parties To Pay For The Reconstruction Of Gaza.
Reconstruction Costs Approximately US$18.5 Billion And Counting…
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).
United States Department of State
Washington DC
7 October 2024
Briefing Excerpts
QUESTION: And then just secondly, and I’ve asked this and I know others have asked this before, but when you talk about how you want a ceasefire in Gaza so that people can return to their neighborhoods and their homes, how many neighborhoods and homes do you think are left for them to return to?
MR MILLER: So by various estimates, somewhere around half the buildings, maybe a little over half the buildings in Gaza —
QUESTION: Fifty percent. [NOTE: Other estimates are seventy percent to eighty percent of structures in Gaza and infrastructure in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed with the percentage increasing daily]
MR MILLER: — have been destroyed or damaged. There are other buildings, obviously, that remain, and we want to see people be able to return to their neighborhoods, not – and if they don’t have homes, we want to see the ability to rebuild them, which is why one of the pieces we have said has to be a priority for the ultimate end of this conflict is a reconstruction effort so people can rebuild their neighborhoods and rebuild their homes, because the devastation has been absolutely catastrophic across Gaza.
QUESTION: And who do you think should pay for that?
MR MILLER: Ultimately, it would require an international effort with multiple countries contributing. We don’t —
QUESTION: You —
MR MILLER: Obviously, that’s the kind of thing that would have to be worked out. We’re not at that stage yet because we’re not even at the end of the conflict. But it’s the – it’s the —
QUESTION: Okay, fine. But – but what countries should be included in this?
MR MILLER: That’s the type of thing that’ll be the subject of many diplomatic conversations.
QUESTION: Can I get to the very specific point here? Do you think Israel should contribute to this?
MR MILLER: I think we are a long way from the reconstruction of Gaza, and I – I’m not going to make any pronouncements from the podium about who should pay for the reconstruction before we get into what would be a – what would be a diplomatic —
QUESTION: I didn’t say they should pay for it. I think – I’m not asking who should pay, if someone should pay for everything. But who should contribute? Would the U.S. be willing to contribute?
MR MILLER: It’s not something we can speak to because these are conversations that will happen well down the road.
QUESTION: All right.
QUESTION: Let me just continue with a couple of questions, although it was Israel that dropped close to 50,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, rendering what it is now. So maybe they ought to pay for it.
MR MILLER: In response to a war that Hamas starts.
QUESTION: No, that’s okay. But – right.
MR MILLER: Maybe Hamas should pay to rebuild Gaza.
QUESTION: Let me ask – let me ask you —
MR MILLER: I mean, it’s a – it’s a complicated question, is the point.
QUESTION: My final one. The President today issued a statement, and he talks about the anniversary, he talks about 1,200 Jews were killed, which is the highest number since the Holocaust and so on. But he did not mention the genocide that the Palestinians are subject to. He did not mention the fact that 42,000 people were killed. In fact, a group of American doctors are saying 119,000 have been killed. Is that negligence on his part or is he not showing the kind of sensibility that he ought to show for the Palestinians?
MR MILLER: So, Said, he didn’t use the —
QUESTION: Or empathy?
MR MILLER: He didn’t use the terms that you used because we don’t agree with those terms, but if you look at the President’s statement, if you look at the statement from the Vice President, if you look at the statement from the Secretary, every one of them made clear that the consequences of this war for the Palestinian people have been catastrophic, and that’s why we’re ultimately working to end the war.
QUESTION: Okay.
Background
On 7 October 2024, one year 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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