U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call Monday, calling him “crazy” as he pressed Israel to step back from escalation in Lebanon and agree to a ceasefire with Lebanese group Hezbollah amid the fallout of Israeli strikes.
American publication Axios, citing a U.S. official, summarized Trump’s message to Netanyahu this way: “You’re f*** 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.”
The White House has not publicly commented on the phone conversation.
According to Axios, U.S. officials say Trump is aware that Hezbollah has been firing repeatedly at Israel and that Israel has a right to respond. However, Trump believes that the IDF has responded disproportionately in recent days, impacting Washington’s efforts to secure a ceasefire extension with Iran.
After phone calls, Trump announces all shooting will stop between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/QWE8fLOaV1
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Tehran has stipulated that any deal with the U.S. on ending the war would include a truce in Lebanon.
According to the U.S. officials cited by Axios, Trump “steamrolled” Netanyahu.
“Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of,'” the U.S. official told the news site.
In the recent past, Trump has repeatedly and publicly demanded that President Isaac Herzog pardon the prime minister, who is in the midst of a lengthy corruption trial.
Earlier on Monday, Iran had threatened to stop negotiating with the U.S. due to Israel’s action in Lebanon.
At one point, Trump yelled at Netanyahu, “What the f*** are you doing?”
Another source summarized part of Trump’s comments as “everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” according to Axios.
After the call, Netanyahu released a statement, saying Israel’s position “remains the same.”
“I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said.
“Our position remains the same. At the same time, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon,” he added.
Later, Trump announced on Truth Social that Netanyahu had “turned his troops around” after Trump asked him “not to go into a major raid of Beirut.”
Muhammad Luqman is Associate Editor at Views News Now. He writes on wide-ranging issues including economy, South Asia, the Middle East, agriculture, economy and innovation. Luqman has worked some of the leading news organizations and won acclaim for his original and research-based works.
