In a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine, former US President and current GOP contender Donald Trump had harsh words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s war leadership, but pledged to “protect Israel” if re-elected in November.
Trump criticized Netanyahu for failing to prevent the Hamas attack on October 7, saying it “happened on his watch.”
“They have the most sophisticated equipment,” Trump said. “They had—everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed.”
He also accused Netanyahu of dropping out of the US operation to kill Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Qassam Soleimani in January 2020, which he said was a “bad experience” for him.
“All of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it. And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something.”
Trump also questioned Netanyahu’s ability to lead, saying that October 7 wouldn’t have happened if he was in office. “It would have never happened,” he insisted. “You wouldn’t have had—Hamas had no money.”
Asked if he thinks he can work well with Netanyahu’s rivals, Trump said, “I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that… I haven’t spoken to him about it. But you have some very good people that I’ve gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job.”
Regarding the hostages, Trump surmised without offering evidence that “you have very few hostages left.” He also criticized Israel’s public relations efforts, saying they have done a “very bad job.”
“I don’t think that the Israel Defense Fund [sic] or any other group should be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed with possibly people in those buildings every single night, which is what they do,” Trump said.
Trump also expressed his support for a two-state solution, but said it’s now “much tougher to get.” He cited the education of Palestinian youth as a major obstacle, saying they are “taught to hate Jewish people at a level that nobody thought was possible.”
Despite his criticism of Netanyahu, Trump claimed that the Israeli public supports him overwhelmingly. “There’s been no president that’s done what I’ve done in Israel,” Trump said. “And it’s interesting. The people of Israel appreciate it. I have like a 98%—I have the highest approval numbers.”
“I have been very loyal to Israel, more loyal than any other president,” Trump boasted. “I’ve done more for Israel than any other president. Yeah, I will protect Israel.”
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7 Responses
I believe him. He would not allow a new terrorist country to exist within Israel. He would also withdraw any aid to I-Ran, Qatar, PLO, I-Raq…
He would undo all the Obama3.0 has done!
Trump is right again!!!
Frump is a vindictive human who behaves like a 2 year old. He is still upset Bibi “betrayed” him by calling to congratulate Biden after winning the last election. Frump thinks anyone who doesn’t toe the line for his “the election was stolen” claim is a traitor never to be forgiven.
All this does not take away from the fact that he may be right about Bibi’s policies helping Hamas in the past and it certainly is true that The Orange god himself did some very good things for Israel.
Trump said Nazis were good people. His daddy was also a racist and anti semitic.
Bibi is amazing, unless one tosses out America and goes Rogue Bibi is tied to Torah and Hashem…..shut up Israel Americans…..you make me ill..
domenick00 is a filthy liar. Trump has never once in his life said nazis were good people, and his father a”h was well known as an PHILOsemite, a chassid umos ho’olom. Fred Trump was certainly a far better person than domenick00 is.
Trump is probably correct that this would never have happened if he were in office, but he’s very wrong about Gantz. For all Netanyahu’s many flaws, Gantz is much worse. Gantz is a leftist who believes in a “two-state solution”. He believes the Arabs are morally right, and that Israel must appease them and gain their approval to exist. He must never be allowed to be prime minister, even if it means putting up with Netanyahu’s flaws.