In the midst of confusion this Monday over Iran’s announcement to leave negotiations with the United States due to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, U.S. President Donald Trump later claimed to have had “a productive conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that had helped to unstick the situation. “Negotiations continue at a rapid pace,” he proclaimed.
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What he described as productive turned hours later, as Axios reported, into a phone call in which Trump lashed out at Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. The U.S. president used insults and offensive language, according to several sources who explained to the cited media outlet.
During the call, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” and accused him of being ungrateful. He also halted Israel’s plans to attack Beirut, always according to those sources. A U.S. official stated that Trump emphasized to Netanyahu that carrying out his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel on the international stage.
The temperature was very high and Trump reproached his interlocutor for the payment he gave him after he managed to keep him out of jail, referring to his support during the corruption trial facing the Israeli prime minister.
“You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your skin. Now everyone hates you. Everyone hates Israel because of this,” they confessed Trump reproached Netanyahu. The U.S. president was furious and at one point shouted at his interlocutor: “What the hell are you doing?”.
According to those sources explained to Axios, Trump knew that Hezbollah had been launching attacks against Israel and that Israel needed to defend itself, but considered that, in recent days, Netanyahu was escalating the conflict disproportionately.
Besides the threats against Beirut, Israel has been expanding its ground operation in southern Lebanon. Another source noted that Trump was concerned about the large number of civilians Israel had killed in Lebanon and opposed Israelis knocking down entire buildings to eliminate a single Hezbollah commander.
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Israel no longer plans to attack Hezbollah targets in Beirut, an Israeli official told the same media after the phone call.
Trump and Netanyahu have had several tense conversations on other occasions, although they have continued to coordinate closely regarding Iran and other matters. But this Monday’s was one of the worst between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House, they emphasized.
Trump’s anger seemed to be motivated by the fact that Netanyahu’s decision to intensify the conflict in Lebanon threatened to derail his negotiations with Iran.
Netanyahu issued a statement after the call in which he said he told Trump that Israel would attack targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that, meanwhile, Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon. “Our position remains the same,” Netanyahu wrote.
But in that conversation, in reality, Trump had run over Netanyahu. According to these sources, the Israeli leader said “okay, just make sure everything gets resolved.” In his later post, the U.S. president added that he had spoken with indirect Hezbollah sources and they had committed not to attack Israel.
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