President Joe Biden tried to prevent the defeat of Hamas, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir charged on Wednesday, as he endorsed Republican candidate for the White House Donald Trump.
The endorsement came hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. The premier is also scheduled to meet with Biden at the White House on Thursday.
Trump plans to host Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., the next day, the presidential candidate announced on Tuesday.
Ben-Gvir told Bloomberg that while Cabinet ministers are supposed to remain neutral on foreign politics, “that’s impossible to do after Biden.
“The U.S. has always stood behind Israel in terms of armaments and weapons, yet this time the sense was that we were being reckoned with—that we were trying to be prevented from winning. That happened on Biden’s watch and fed Hamas with lots of energy,” he said.
“I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran,” the Otzma Yehudit Party leader told the U.S. outlet, adding that “with Trump, it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated.”
Ben-Gvir did not address presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris directly but suggested her policies would be a continuation of Biden’s. Washington’s attitude towards Israel needs to change, the Israeli minister declared, implying that will only happen with Trump.
According to a poll published by the Maariv daily this month, Ben-Gvir has a plurality of support among voters of the current coalition parties to lead the right-wing bloc after Netanyahu retires from political life.
In February, Ben-Gvir leveled similar criticism at Biden, telling The Wall Street Journal that Trump would have been better for the Jewish state during the ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
“Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with giving humanitarian aid and fuel [to Gaza], which goes to Hamas,” he said. “If Trump was in power, the U.S. conduct would be completely different.”
Following the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13, the Israeli politician tweeted, “God bless Trump,” followed by a heart emoji.
