Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly on Friday, despite most of the international delegates walking out in protest of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza. He brazenly stood in New York, defiant of his arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
His speech included a direct military threat against armed groups inside Iraq, a close U.S. ally.
It is clear that Netanyahu is frustrated at not being able to achieve any of his goals in Gaza. His army have failed to rescue the hostages, failed to defeat Hamas, and failed to stop attacks on Israel by various groups within the resistance movement.
Netanyahu’s speech is also viewed by some as part of a broader plan for a ‘new Middle East’ led by Israel, and supported by the U.S., even though Arab countries with a history of good relations with America will be targeted and harmed.
Qatar was attacked by Israel, resulting in death, injury and property damage, regardless of the fact Qatar hosts the largest American military base in the entire Middle East. Arab countries are learning a painful lesson, that the U.S. cannot be trusted, or relied on for security.
Netanyahu seeks sympathy through the false narrative that Israel is the victim, and the whole world is against it. Israel lacks self-reflection, that occupation and human rights abuses are not self-defense, and are unsustainable.
Netanyahu’s speech coincided with rising regional tension, as the U.S., on September 17, designated four Iraqi and Syrian groups as terrorist organizations, describing them as ‘Iranian-backed militias’, including the Al-Nujaba Movement and the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades.
The armed resistance groups in Iraq rose to prominence during the fight to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The U.S.-led coalition was victorious, but there were other groups fighting ISIS alongside the coalition forces who deserve credit as well. In Iraq, the resistance performed so well, it was made part of the Iraqi national army. When Israel, or the U.S. takes aim at the Iraqi resistance, they are in fact pointed at the central government in Baghdad.
When the Bush administration attacked, invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003, they removed a Sunni leader, and replaced him with a Shiite government. Iran is Shiite, and has always had political, cultural and religious ties to Iran, besides the fact they are neighbors. If the Shiites are in control of Iraq today, there is no one to blame besides Washington.
Washington’s Role
Netanyahu said in his speech, “If America were in our place, it would do what we are doing in Gaza…”
Really, would U.S. President Donald Trump act like Netanyahu? What if a group of armed people in Chicago were to begin attacking and killing people? Would the U.S. military be called on to bomb all of Chicago, killing 60,000 Americans? Would the American people allow it, and would the international community stay silent?
Would the Trump administration sign-off on Israeli strikes targeting Iraqi infrastructure, while Baghdad plays a strategic role in the region, and hosts American troops and bases?
Washington describes Iraq as a ‘strategic partner’ while Iraq deals with the U.S as a ‘strategic ally’. However, Netanyahu has enjoyed a ‘green light’ from Trump since the later took office eight months ago. Netanyahu has thumbed his nose at the international community, and has remained insulated in a cloak of arrogant unaccountability tailored in Washington.
Iraqi politicians seem to be comforted by a strong relationship with the U.S., but they should be aware that could dissolve in an instant due to the broader US-led project seeking a ‘new Middle East led by Israel’, with an expansion at the expense of other countries.
Iraqis point to the Strategic Framework Agreement and more than 13 to 14 major US military headquarters inside Iraq, and claim they feel safe and secure. If they talk to the Qataris, they might want to re-think their security.
There is significant US economic engagement with Iraq, with major American global companies, and most recently contracting with the world’s largest company in the energy sector. But, Israel won’t take that into consideration before striking, any more than it did before hitting Qatar without consulting Trump.
Experts on the region point to the Iran nuclear negotiations. Since 1992, Netanyahu has claimed Iran is just weeks away from making a nuclear bomb. Earlier this year, Israel and the U.S. struck Iran in an unprovoked attack severely degrading their nuclear program.
Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and armed groups in Iraq and Yemen, have been known as the ‘Axis of Resistance’, referring to the resistance movement against the brutal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, which the International Court of Justice ruled is illegal under international law. Assad of Syria was deposed, and Hezbollah was severely degraded by Israeli strikes. Syria today is free of all Iranian agents, militias, and Hezbollah. Lebanon is in a political process aimed at the eventual disarming of Hezbollah, once Israel will end its occupation of southern Lebanon.
With Syria removed entirely from the ‘Axis of Resistance’ and Lebanon moving towards calm, that leaves Iran and the resistance groups in Iraq still in the cross-hairs.
Iraqi Government Stance
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, on Friday, rejected Netanyahu’s statements threatening to target what he called ‘militias’ inside Iraqi territory.
Hussein expressed his country’s rejection of the threats made Netanyahu to target Iraqi factions, describing them as “unacceptable” and emphasizing that “an attack on any Iraqi is an attack on all of Iraq.” He added that “the withdrawal of American forces from Iraqi territory will be completed in 2026.”
Iraqi resistance factions have carried out dozens of attacks using drones and missiles on Israeli targets since the outbreak of the Gaza war. However, these ceased following the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah and due to internal and external pressures exerted on the factions, particularly from the Iraqi government.
Iraqi opposition analysts point out that the Iraqi government has become a mere spectator in the face of the activity of armed factions, which operate with independent political and military rhetoric and showcase their strength in confronting external threats without referring to state institutions.
Repeated statements by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani about ‘restricting arms to the state’ remain unfulfilled. The mutual threats between Israel and the factions reveal the fragility of the official Iraqi position and its inability to control the militias that effectively dictate the security and sovereignty landscape.
Netanyahu’s threat on Friday refocused attention on the loss of control by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government over armed factions operating outside the law, amid tense reactions from these forces.
Throughout the Middle East, countries which had depended on a good relationship with the U.S. are now reassessing their security. Netanyahu remains defiant, and seemingly unstoppable.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist.
