© AFP / Elijah NouvelageDonald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, March 9, 2024
In an interview with Israel Hayom partially published on Monday, Trump said that he would have acted "very much the same way as you did" if the US was attacked like Israel was by Hamas in October. "Only a fool would not do that," Trump added.
However, Trump called Israel's wholesale destruction of civilian homes in Gaza "a very big mistake."
"It's a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this...every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people," Trump continued.
"Go and do what you have to do. But you don't do that," he told the Israeli newspaper. "And I think that's one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback. If people didn't see that, every single night I'd watch and every single one of those... And I think Israel wanted to show that it's tough, but sometimes you shouldn't be doing that."
Trump was a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his term in the White House, and described himself as "history's most pro-Israel US president." He imposed sanctions on Iran at Netanyahu's request, moved the US embassy in Israel to West Jerusalem, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan.
However, this relationship soured after Netanyahu congratulated US President Joe Biden on his electoral victory over Trump in 2020. Speaking to Fox News in October, Trump claimed that Netanyahu was "not prepared" for Hamas' attack. At a campaign event later that day, Trump declared that Netanyahu needed to "straighten out" his intelligence apparatus.
With the war in Gaza approaching the six-month mark, the former president urged Netanyahu to bring it to a swift conclusion, telling his Israeli interviewers that "you're losing a lot of support" internationally.
"You have to finish up your war," he said. "You gotta get it done. And, I am sure you will do that. And we gotta get to peace, we can't have this going on."
Netahyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Israel achieves "total victory over Hamas," and has promised to invade the city of Rafah - currently home to more than a million displaced Gazan civilians - in defiance of the White House's pleas. The Israeli leader on Monday canceled a visit to Washington by an Israeli delegation to discuss the planned Rafah operation, after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The resolution passed thanks to the US abstaining from the vote. Given Washington's typically unconditional support for Israel at the UN, the abstention and failure to veto by the US was seen by pundits as an historic show of dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's conduct in Gaza.
Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7, after the militants carried out a cross-border raid, killing more than 1,100 people and taking at least 250 hostages. Israeli forces have killed more than 32,000 Palstinians in the time since, according to the enclave's health authorities.
Reader Comments
Hmm
Either he has a little conscience or maybe he really means it shouldn't be shown for people to watch--- aka the genocide of innocents. Which is it Trump? When did he think the killing should stop? When was he going to expose Hamas for who they are or ISIS for that matter? No the trump card is just that....
rfk Jr is the only possible candidate who has a very real axe to grind with the deep state. And the fact he isn't talked about at all shows he is not in cahoots with them.
plus who knows DC better than rfk jr?
Been suing and winning against big pharma a long time now.
There is little to no difference between him and the extreme pro-Zionists anymore.
He may not be an ardent Deep Stater, but he has clearly demonstrated that he has zero backbone to stand up for principle when his political career is on the line - no different than any other scumbag politician.
There just might be something driving this man that many individuals can't identify with. A scarring. The kind that might make a man live his life to possibly seek a justice or vindication.
And that's deeper than just politics. It's personal.
Figure the alphabets have made their way here to.
The last thing this country actually needs, is either of the two party candidates.
whats the definition of insane. Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome.
Anyway. I'm prepared for anyway it turns out.
The stupidity of that assumption is on par with believing that RFK, Jr is any better than any run-of-the mill politician.
The isreali apartheid regime no longer goes to washingtub. The USadmin now has to go to isreal if they want to speak to regime leaders.
The Trumpster has got the isreali apartheid regime all wrong, as a lot of people have. He believed the isreali apartheid regime bullshit. They kept telling him what he wanted to hear without believing a word of it themselves. Why should they when their religious doctrine says that all those not 'chosen' are goyim and deserve to be tricked and lied to? then robbed of everything they own.
In an exclusive interview, Rabbi Wagner, mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivas Ohr Yerushalayim in Moshav Beit Meir, shares the incredible story of how Donald Trump’s father, Frederick Trump, built a shul for the congregation headed by his father, Rabbi Yisroel Wagner, and went on to make annual donations of funding for the kehillah and to aid Jewish families in financial distress. " [Link]
Frederick Trump founded a construction company when he was a teenager and made money building for the government - eventually constructing 27,000 Apartments in New York city [Link]