United States – In an interview with “Time” magazine, former US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing him as a “failure” and that other leaders might do a good job.
Trump said, “The criticism to which Netanyahu was rightly subjected was due to his failure to prevent the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by Hamas on October 7, and this happened during his term in office.
He continued: “October 7 should never have happened… Everything was in place to stop it, and many people were aware of it, and you know thousands of people were aware of it, but Israel was not aware of it, and I think Netanyahu is blamed for it.” “That’s very much.”
In response to whether he thought it was time for Netanyahu to leave power and whether he might work better with Gantz, he demurred, saying: “I think Benny Gantz is a good person, but I am not ready to say that. I didn’t talk to him regarding it. But there are some very good people I have met in Israel who can do a good job.”
Regarding whether he would consider stopping military aid to Israel to force it to withdraw from the war, Trump replied that he “does not rule out this possibility, but if Iran attacks Israel, we will be there.”
Opinion polls in Israel show that Netanyahu is lagging behind his main political rival, retired General Benny Gantz, who called for elections in September. This left Netanyahu struggling to muster popular support to remain in office, and Trump turned on Netanyahu.
Trump once touted his close relationship with Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. When Trump was president, he pursued many of Netanyahu’s priorities, as Trump removed the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement, recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But the relationship soured when Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his victory in the 2020 elections and issued a video address on the occasion of Biden’s inauguration. Trump, who continues to deny that Biden was the rightful victor, was reportedly frustrated that Netanyahu did not show him more loyalty.
Trump also complained regarding Israel’s withdrawal from the 2020 US-led strike in Iraq that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Trump told Time magazine: “I had a bad experience with Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu), and I was not happy regarding it. That was something I never forgot. “He explained something to me.”
Source: RT
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2024-05-02 03:33:45
