According to reports, President Donald Trump had a tense phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he strongly criticised Israel’s planned military operations in Lebanon.
Trump’s tone was unusually hard, and he allegedly called Netanyahu “crazy,” according to the media reports.
He also allegedly told the Israeli leader that he was the one who supported him in the past, and that he would be in jail if it were not for him.
Trump was very frustrated with the aggressive military use against Lebanon by Israel, sources close to the discussion said.
The US president has threatened that more action could jeopardise the current US policy of keeping the region stable and moving toward a constructive dialogue with Iran.
Trump allegedly insisted that renewed attacks would cause international isolation and harm to other Washington-backed peace efforts.
Hezbollah and Israel have been in a fragile ceasefire since the Israel Defence Forces launched its attack, and Trump was particularly worried that Israeli military operation could undermine the ceasefire, White House officials said.
He’s reported to have urged Netanyahu to ease up on military action and stick to the terms of the ceasefire agreement during the phone call.
There have also been reports that Trump urged the Israeli prime minister to reaffirm his support for the truce publicly.
There were indications that the discussion got heated, with Trump resorting to strong language to underscore his disapproval of the planned assault.
After the call, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social about the discussion saying it was “productive.”
He said that both Israel and Hezbollah would stop attacks, and that Israeli troops would not move toward Beirut.
Netanyahu’s office, however, later issued a statement saying the Israeli military would press ahead with its operations in southern Lebanon “as planned,” thus reflecting continued disagreements between the two.
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