Ex-Trump strategist calls for toppling of Israeli government

Right-wing strategist and commentator Steve Bannon calls Israel an American protectorate, pushes for the establishment of a “Christian state of Jerusalem,” and demands the toppling of Israel’s government.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Former White House chief strategist, right-wing pundit, and convicted fraudster Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for the US to pursue “regime change” in Israel, castigating the Israeli government and advocating for the toppling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

Bannon, who served briefly as President Donald Trump’s senior counselor and top strategist early in the first Trump White House, has voiced increasingly sharp criticism of the Jewish state, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and conservative American supporters of Israel.

Speaking on his War Room podcast in June, Bannon described Israel as an American protectorate and mocked Fox News host Mark Levin.

“The 12-day war is over,” Bannon said. “So, for Tel Aviv, Levin, and the people that are the town criers for the Netanyahu regime, bad news: the war is over. Not going to be any more American involvement; no more support for any regime change. President Trump is done. One and done. He couldn’t have been more adamant about that.”

“They’re a protectorate, and as someone that defends Israel, we have to put that in perspective. That changes everything,” he said.

Earlier this month, Bannon blasted what he called the push for “Greater Israel” – a term often used by critics of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria – and called instead for the establishment of a “Christian state of Jerusalem” in the area.

“If you really want to protect the Holy Land, the Christians are going to have to get their own stake in this,” Bannon said on his podcast.

“The only solution here, if you’re going to have a two-state solution, you have to have a three-state solution,” he added. “You have to have a Christian state.”

On Tuesday, however, Bannon made his most openly critical comments yet regarding Israel, calling for the Netanyahu government to be toppled “immediately.”

Speaking with right-wing pundit Laura Loomer, Bannon pushed back on Loomer’s critique of anti-Israeli conservatives.

Loomer, a Jewish conservative activist and Trump supporter who ran and lost in two congressional races in Florida, accused right-wing critics of Israel of suffering from “Israel Derangement Syndrome.”

“It’s not Israeli Derangement Syndrome. I certainly don’t have it,” Bannon fired back.

“We need regime change in Jerusalem, and we need it tonight, okay,” Bannon said. “Everything that comes out of Netanyahu’s government is a stone-cold lie.”

“Netanyahu’s government has been atrocious, and we should have regime change in Jerusalem, and we should have it immediately. They’ve lied to the American government, they’ve lied to the American people consistently,” he said.

Bannon served in the Trump administration for less than seven months before leaving office, after which Trump disavowed him.

“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job; he lost his mind,” Trump said in 2018.

Last February, Bannon pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with his management of the “We Build the Wall” initiative, which promoted itself as a nonprofit effort to fund the building of the border wall proposed by Trump.

Bannon received a reported $1 million via the initiative, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover his personal expenses.

Laura Loomernetanyahu governmentSteve Bannon