Trump urges Israel to end war against Hamas
Criticizes Biden, Netanyahu for responses to monthslong conflict
David Jackson
WASHINGTON − Former President Donald Trump says Israel should stop military operations against Hamas in Gaza because the violence its hurting its reputation throughout the world.
“You have to finish up your war ... to finish it up,” Trump told the newspaper Israel Hayom in an interview posted Monday. “You gotta get it done. And, I am sure you will do that.”
Trump said he supported Israel’s initial response to the Hamas attack last year − “what I saw October 7 was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen” − but he felt it has gone on too long.
“Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up,” Trump said. “And you have to get on to peace, to get on to a normal life for Israel, and for everybody else.”
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings since Hamas launched a raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.
Trump has long touted his support for Israel, but he has also engaged in stereotypes about Jewish voters and clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, Trump all but blamed Netanyahu, saying Israeli intelligence services failed and the government underestimated that its enemies are “very smart.”
Trump had also criticized Netanyahu for calling to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden after the 2020 election, dismissing Trump’s protests of the vote.
“I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” Trump told a group of supporters during an October event in West Palm Beach, Florida. “That was a very terrible thing.”
In his interview with Israel Hayom, a conservative outlet owned by the family
Former President Donald Trump of the late billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Trump also criticized Biden’s foreign policy.
Netanyahu has pushed back on U.S. criticism of the war. On Monday, he canceled a visit by an Israel diplomatic delegation after the U.S. allowed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, has criticized Israel’s plans for an offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza, that’s packed with more than 1 million refugees.
In his interview, Trump did not offer a prescription of his own for the IsraelHamas conflict, a point made by opponents who accused the former president of again second-guessing allies.
“Literally everyone who has been saying Trump is better than Biden when it comes to pro-Israel policy in the current context can take a seat now, I think,” said Republican political strategist Liz Mair.