Former President Donald Trump slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for congratulating President Joe Biden on his electoral victory last year, according to an Israeli newspaper.
Trump accused Netanyahu of betrayal, claiming that by overturning decades of US policy and endorsing Israel’s claims to territories seized in conflict, he aided Netanyahu in his own victory.
Trump continues to argue that the US election was rigged against him.
Trump expressed his displeasure with a video Netanyahu circulated online in which he praised Biden in conversations with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid earlier this year.
Nobody went above and above for Bibi. I also liked Bibi. In remarks reported by the Yediot Aharonot daily, Trump remarked, “I still like Bibi.” He was referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
However, I value loyalty as well… Bibi had the option of remaining silent. He’s made a colossal error.
More than 12 hours after the election was called, and after most other international leaders, Netanyahu congratulated Biden.
In the tweet, Netanyahu did not refer to Trump as president-elect, and he followed it up with a message complimenting him.
Trump was enraged by a video released by Netanyahu on Jan. 20, the day Biden was inaugurated, in which Netanyahu stated that he and Biden had a long-standing personal friendship.
Trump was cited as stating, “I haven’t spoken to him since.”
After four hard-fought elections in less than two years, Netanyahu was forced to resign as prime minister last summer after failing to assemble a governing majority.
The Trump administration took extraordinary efforts to show its support for Israel, including withdrawing opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and recognising Jerusalem as the country’s capital.
The administration arranged normalisation agreements between Israel and four Arab states after offering a Mideast plan that was roundly rejected by the Palestinians.
Trump claimed that his recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 war, aided Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections in April 2019.
“I did it immediately before the election, and it greatly aided him (Netanyahu),” Trump remarked.
The Trump administration also pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Israel has fought tooth and nail for.
Iran began publicly breaking the constraints it had set on its nuclear programme after Obama re-imposed US sanctions that had been eased under the accord. Biden is now attempting to repair the deal by negotiating with foreign powers.
“I’ll tell you what, I believe Israel would have been annihilated if I hadn’t come along,” Trump stated.
“By now, I believe Israel would have been obliterated.”
