Trump Maintains His Support for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Despite Previously Criticizing Him
Jose Nino
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On October 13, 2023, former United States President Donald Trump said that he supports Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This came at a time when Trump’s Republican rivals have attacked him for his criticism of Netanyahu following the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7.
In a post that he published on Truth Social on October 13, Trump declared “#IStandWithIsrael” and “#IStandWithBibi”, making a reference to the Israeli prime minister’s nickname.
Trump got into a lot of heat for declaring that Netanyahu had “let us down” prior to the US assassinating Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Trump took Israel’s intelligence agencies to task, declaring that they needed to “step up their game.” He also described militant group Hezbollah as “very smart.”
These comments enraged many GOP presidential hopefuls who are completely in the thrall of Israel .
On the afternoon of October 12, Trump’s team tried to allay tensions by putting out statements showcasing his previous support for Israel. “There was no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump,” Trump declared in one statement. On top of that he lauded the way Israeli soldiers have been fighting against Hamas in retaliation to the surprise attack on October 7.
Trump still holds somewhat of a grudge against Netanyahu after the Israeli leader immediately congratulated Joe Biden once the corporate press officially called the 2020 election — a thoroughly fraud-ridden election — for him.
During interviews for a book concerning his Middle East peace efforts, Trump blamed Netanyahu for being disloyal.
“I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty. The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape,” Trump allegedly said.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung poured cold water on the claim that Trump had changed his stance on Israel and instead emphasized Trump’s pro-Israelí policies as president, which includes moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and the hammering out the Abraham Accords with several Arab nations in order to normalize Israel’s diplomatic status in the Middle East. “There was no bigger advocate and defender of Israel than President Trump,” he stated.
Nevertheless, Trump’s rivals have continued to pile on him. During a campaign event in New Hampshire, former US vice president Mike Pence, declared that he “found the former president’s comments to be reckless and irresponsible.”
“Leaders in this country should be sending no message other than America stands with Israel. To speak in a critical way about Prime Minister Netanyahu, to refer to the terrorist organization Hezbollah as very smart, I think was incomprehensible to me,” he said.
Nikki Haley, who previously served as the ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, claimed that the country needs a president who “knows the difference between good and evil.”
“I think to go and give credit to Hezbollah, to congratulate the Chinese Communist Party like he did and to go and criticize the head of a country that just saw massive bloodshed, no, that’s not what we need in a president,” she proclaimed. “What we need in a president is someone who knows the difference between good and evil, who knows the difference between right and wrong.”
Trump needs to stop kowtowing to Israel. It’s a parasitic political entity with interests that are antagonistic to those of the US. His future administration should treat Israel neutrality but do whatever it takes to slash aid to it and treat it like any other nation in the world stage.
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