An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s junta downplays the military’s coup in the country and claims that the the generals will leave politics shortly, while seeking to improve relations with the US and distancing themselves from China.
Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli Military Intelligence official who has previously represented Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Sudan’s military rulers, tells Reuters that the military junta also wants to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who have undergone genocide and fled to neighboring Bangladesh.
The international community has widely condemned the military-led coup in Myanmar.
Ben-Menashe says he was hired because the West “misunderstands” the Myanmar military.
“There’s a real push to move towards the West and the United States as opposed to trying to get closer to the Chinese,” Ben-Menashe says. “They don’t want to be a Chinese puppet.”
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 7, 2021
