Former President Donald Trump says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should âdo what he wants to do” with regards to a potential retaliatory strike against Iran.
âWell, I think [Netanyahu is] going to do what he wants to do. And I think he has to do that,â Trump told Saudi state-owned news outlet Al Arabiya in an interview that aired Sunday, when asked if heâd support Israeli airstrikes inside the Islamic Republic in response to Iranâs Oct. 1 missile barrage on Israel.
Trump, 78, went on to slam President Bidenâs âhorribleâ record on foreign policy and urged Netanyahu, 75, to âdo the oppositeâ of whatever the 81-year-old commander in chief suggests.
âBiden was giving him some very bad â look, Biden has been historically horrible on foreign policy. Incompetent,â the Republican nominee for president said in the interview.
âI would say what you do is anything [Biden] says, do the opposite, and you’ll be brilliant,â Trump said. âBut [Biden] gave [Bibi] instructions not to do anything, and Israel is under great danger.â
Leaked classified US intelligence documents suggest that Israel is indeed preparing for a retaliatory strike against Tehran.
The documents, which appeared on the Internet on Friday and were dated from Oct. 15-16, purport to show Israel shifting munitions around and the Israeli Air Force undertaking significant military exercises in preparation for an assault.
The US government is investigating the leak.
When the Al Arabiya reporter noted that some people believe Trump is âthe only personâ who can end the conflict in the Middle East â because of his close relationship with the Israeli prime minister â the former president agreed.
âI think youâre right,â Trump responded. âHe does listen to me.
âI want to see it all stop,â he said of the war. âI want to see the Middle East get back to peace. A real peace that’s going to be a lasting peace. And that’s going to happen.â
The 45th president refused to say how he would go about preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but noted that he has ârespect for Iranâ and the Iranian people and knows them to be âgreat negotiatorsâ â suggesting that it would be in the regimeâs best interest to strike a deal.
âIn its own way it’s probably in danger, maybe more so than they would have thought a month ago,â Trump said of Iran, adding, âI don’t want to see people killed. Everyone’s being killed in the Middle East. I don’t want to see that.â
Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel earlier this month in retaliation for the deadly Israeli strike against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The volley marked the second direct strike against the Jewish state from Iran since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.
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