US President Donald Trump said in an interview on Friday that Israel would have been “eviscerated” without his support, and described his ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “good”, while adding that the Israeli PM needed to be “kept sane.”
In an interview with Axios, the US President said Israel “does as I say” when he was asked whether he could control Israel and prevent it from launching more attacks on Lebanon. A day later, on Saturday, Israel violated ceasefire and struck Lebanon, killing at least five people.
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Trump says Israel ‘does as he says’ amid Lebanon fighting
During the interview, Trump was asked if he could to influence Israeli military operations in the region. He said he could control such decisions.
“Yeah, I will be. I mean, they have a lot of respect for me, and they do as I say,” he said.
Trump also discussed his relationship with Netanyahu, describing it as “good”, but added that he had to “keep him a little bit sane.”
He also referred to the previous US policy on Iran after the memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending hostilities in West Asia was signed. He mentioned the nuclear deal with Iran, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and again criticised the agreement, something he has done repeatedly over the years.
‘Israel wouldn’t exist if not for me’
Trump said that Israel would “not exist” if not for him.
“If it weren’t for me, Israel would not exist today. Because I terminated the Barack Hussein Obama deal, the JCPOA, which was a road to a nuclear weapon. They would have had it five years ago, they would have used that within the first week, in my opinion. And Israel would no longer be with us. Israel would have been gone years ago had I not done that,” Trump told Axios.
He claimed Iran was only a month away from obtaining nuclear weapons using enriched material and added that Tehran would have used such weapons against Israel.
Referring to the last year’s confrontation with Iran, Trump said, “Israel would’ve been gone if we didn’t hit them (Iran) with the B2 bombers. All that enriched material, they were one month away. It was right there…
Had we not hit them, they would’ve had a nuclear weapon. They would’ve used it on Israel. They would’ve used it also in Saudi Arabia. And you saw that in Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. Because when that war started, I guess my biggest surprise was that, almost immediately, missiles were flying at these five other countries. I said, why is he doing it? And you know what that did? That brought those five countries right into my lap. They were great.”
Israel-Lebanon fighting intensifies, day after ceasefire
Trump’s comments on Israel’s military operations in Lebanon came at a time when Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a renewed ceasefire as part of efforts to reduce tensions in the region.
But only a day after the agreement came into effect, Israeli strikes targeted southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing five people.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli air raids hit more than a dozen sites in the south of the country. It also reported artillery shelling by Israel in Nabatieh city and nearby areas, where clashes have been centred in recent days.
With inputs from agencies
