Donald Trump said on Monday that Israel needs to “finish up” the war in Gaza and that the country “has to be very careful” because it is “losing a lot of support.”
The former president and presumptive Republican nominee for 2024 made his remarks in an interview with an Israeli news outlet.
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‘It’s a Very Bad Picture for the World’
Trump gave his comments right after Israel canceled a visit by delegates to Washington, DC.
Politico reports, “The presumptive Republican nominee’s comments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled an Israel delegation that was set to visit Washington after the U.S. allowed a resolution calling for a cease-fire to pass the U.N. Security Council.”
“Trump’s remarks also come as President Joe Biden’s administration has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s planned military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge from the conflict.”
The Politico story continued:
In an interview with Israel Hayom, a publication owned by the family of the late conservative real estate magnate Sheldon Adelson, Trump suggested he would have acted very similarly to Israel’s government in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. But he also said Israel made “a very big mistake” with photos and imagery of bombs dropped on Gaza helping push public opinion against the war.
“I wanted to call [Israel] and say don’t do it,” Trump told the outlet. “These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, that’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad picture for the world.”
Trump — who has described himself as the “most pro-Israel president ever” — has previously suggested the need for a quick end to the war in Gaza.
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Trump On Israel-Hamas War: ‘A Lot of People Are Dying’
Trump said of the conflict in November, “So you have a war that’s going on, and you’re probably going to have to let this play out. You’re probably going to have to let it play out because a lot of people are dying.”
“There is no hatred like the Palestinian hatred of Israel and Jewish people. And probably the other way around also, I don’t know,” he added.
Trump finished, “You know, it’s not as obvious, but probably that’s it too. So sometimes you have to let things play out and you have to see where it ends.”
