Former President Donald Trump, who is running for his old job, has been telling donors and allies that he wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu impeached, per reporting in Rolling Stone.
Trump has been “absolutely furious” since the Israeli premier congratulated U.S. President Joe Biden on his election at a time when Trump was contesting the results of the election, according to the report.
“The Israel-Hamas war that erupted over the weekend has only stoked the former president’s animus toward Netanyahu, and he’s now trying to use the unfolding horror to get even,” it added, noting that Trump has “spent an inordinate amount of time aggressively trashing Netanyahu.”
Longtime Trump advisers, whose advice he has sought, recommended that he not call for Netanyahu to step down. “Some confidants and allies have recently recommended that he not do it this week, as the dead are still being counted and a major war seems underway,” Rolling Stone reported.
Trump recently criticized Netanyahu, who “let us down,” and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, whom he called “this jerk.”
“This is 100% untrue,” Steven Cheung, spokesman for Trump’s 2024 campaign, wrote of the Rolling Stone article. “Never happened. These unnamed ‘sources’ are simply making this up out of thin air. This is the most egregious example of fake news.”
On Oct. 12, the Trump campaign stated: “There was no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump.”
“Under my leadership, the United States stood in complete solidarity with Israel, and as a result, Israel was safe, America was safe and for the first time in decades, we made historic strides for peace in the Middle East,” per the campaign. “All of the experts said that the Abraham Accords couldn’t be done, but we got them done, and were able to set the Middle East in a new and positive direction.”
Andrew Romeo, communications director for the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, stated that the Trump campaign’s “rhetorical gymnastics act” cannot cover for him.
“Nobody can change the fact that last night Donald Trump showed his true colors by insulting Israelis during one of their darkest hours and simultaneously complimenting one of the terrorist groups that continue to pose a grave threat to Israelis and Americans alike,” Romeo stated. “It is disturbing and disqualifying.”
