The alliance between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, once billed as unshakeable, is showing cracks in public. This comes amid Trump’s push to finalize a deal ending hostilities with Iran. His frustration with the Israeli prime minister has spilled into view with language no recent American leader has used.
Donald Trump drops major comment on Israeli PM
Speaking at the G7 summit alongside Qatar’s Emir, Donald Trump claimed Israel’s very survival depended on his actions. “Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did,” he said.
“Israel would have been blown up a long time ago, had I not gotten involved,” he continued. The remarks are a notable reversal from last year, when Netanyahu told Trump he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House.”
Trump directly addressed Netanyahu’s conduct during the same, urging restraint over Israeli strikes in Lebanon. He said the military campaign risked derailing a potential peace deal with Iran. “I’ve had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” Trump stated. “Lebanon used to be a great country. It was a country where you had professors, doctors, lawyers. The great intellect was in Lebanon. Now it’s just terrible,” he added.
The outburst followed reports that Trump was angered after Israel struck Beirut just as a US-Iran agreement was taking shape. Israeli officials have publicly stayed cautious, wary of provoking an ally known for prickly reactions to criticism. Privately, the mood is starkly different. A senior Israeli official, speaking to Reuters anonymously, described the preliminary ceasefire framework as “terrible for Israel,” adding that nobody in the leadership, “from the prime minister to the chief of staff,” views it otherwise.
Washington has indicated that the coming 60-day ceasefire period will be used to negotiate full terms addressing American and Israeli concerns, particularly around Iran’s nuclear program. Whether the once-ironclad bond between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu can survive those talks remains an open question.
