New Delhi: US President Donald Trump Monday lashed out at Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on a phone call for bombing Lebanon. He reportedly called him “fucking crazy”.
The call, first reported by Axios, came amid growing tensions between the two leaders as Israel expands its operations against Hezbollah. According to two of the sources quoted in the report, Trump accused Netanyahu of jeopardising Israel’s international standing and warned that further attacks, particularly in Beirut, could deepen Tel Aviv’s diplomatic isolation.
The report said Trump used profane language during the exchange and questioned Israel’s military strategy. One source quoted in the report described it as among the most contentious conversations between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.
The US official told summarized Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu as thus: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
It further added that Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the fuck are you doing?”
According to Axios, Trump was particularly alarmed by reports of civilian casualties in Lebanon and objected to Israeli strikes that levelled buildings in efforts to target individual Hezbollah commanders. He also reportedly argued that a planned Israeli operation in Beirut would further damage Israel’s standing internationally.
Earlier Monday, Trump said he had spoken directly with Netanyahu and had also communicated through intermediaries with Hezbollah.
In a post on Truth Social, he said Netanyahu had agreed to cancel a planned operation in Beirut and that Hezbollah had agreed to halt its attacks. “All shooting will stop,” Trump wrote, though neither side immediately confirmed such an arrangement.
According to the report, Trump “felt in recent days that Netanyahu was escalating in a disproportionate way”.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported Monday that Tehran had suspended talks with international mediators in protest of Israel’s expanding military operations in Lebanon.
Initially, Trump said he was unaware of Iran’s decision. Later, in an interview with CNBC, he said he was unconcerned if negotiations had ended. However, according to the Axios report, he subsequently sought to prevent further escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
In a statement released after the call, Netanyahu’s office said the Prime Minister told Trump that Israel would continue to respond militarily if Hezbollah persisted in firing rockets into Israeli territory. The statement also reaffirmed Israel’s intention to continue operations in southern Lebanon, where Israeli ground forces have advanced farther north than at any point in the past quarter-century.
Despite those public assurances, Axios cited a US official who said Trump’s intervention ultimately persuaded the Israeli PM to reconsider a planned strike on Beirut. The official characterised the exchange as one in which the president effectively overrode the Israeli leader’s objections. Axios reported that according to US sources, Trump had “steamrolled” Netanyahu on the call and Bibi said: “OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.”
This was the second time both the leaders had sparred over calls in recent weeks.
Earlier last month, Trump had a “tense” conversation with Netanyahu because both leaders did not see eye-to-eye on how to proceed with the Iran war. Netanyahu had then called Trump’s delay in strikes on Iran “a mistake” and asserted for resumption of military action. The US president, on the other hand, wanted to see if a deal could be reached.
(Edited by Archishman Ganguly)