President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter Wednesday to lambaste President Obama over his treatment of Israel, accusing him of making “inflammatory” statements and putting up “roadblocks” that make “a smooth transition” impossible.
Trump also encouraged Israel to “stay strong” because change is coming soon.
Via Fox News:
The already-turbulent relationship between the Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu governments has lurched into its rockiest stretch yet in the final days of the Obama administration, after the U.S. abstained on an anti-settlement resolution before the U.N. Security Council, allowing it to pass.
Trump tweeted: “We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect.”
And in a swipe at the outgoing president after a period of relative peace between the two, he wrote, “Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!”
Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks.Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016
We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016
not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016
The Israeli government has turned to President-elect Trump’s team for support in recent days, openly saying they look forward to working with the next president amid fraying ties with the outgoing administration.
Netanyahu has described the U.S. abstention that allowed the U.N. resolution to pass as an “ambush,” and his government has gone on to accuse the U.S. of playing a hand in orchestrating the vote.
Netanyahu, for his part, thanked Trump for his support:
President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel! 🇮🇱🇺🇸@IvankaTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr https://t.co/lURPimG0wS
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 28, 2016
Trump surrogate Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) blamed the betrayal on “the vindictive nature” of President Obama, “who can’t get over the fact that his policies have been repudiated by the American public.”
On Fox Business Wednesday, Collins said, “I look at this quite frankly as a personal vindictive move by President Obama in the Security Council itself to condemn Israel it self and in effect, nor even recognize the Western Wall, which we would say was not in disputed territory, but according to Obama, it is.”
“Trump is going to stand with Netanyahu,” Collins added. “He’s going to stand strong with Israel.”
Asked how Trump will be able to turn the situation around, the congressman said, “Well, when you consider that the United States is the primary funder of the UN, I don’t think it will take very long because Donald Trump is a negotiator. I would expect him to step right in and say, ‘we’re going to undo this action.'”
As for the alleged “roadblocks” Trump complained about, Collins said, “I’ve been getting reports myself from what we would call ‘the landing teams’ in the administration. This administration is not working to help with the smooth transition of Donald Trump into office.”
Obama publicly and repeatedly promised to help Trump with the “big challenge” of transition, but Collins said “they’re doing everything they can to make this a bumpy road — and again — you see the true thoughts of Obama when he says ‘If I had been running for a third term, I would have beaten Donald Trump.’ He can’t get over the fact that this was a repudiation of his policies, his legacy is going to be nothing more than 20 trillion in debt and ISIS being a threat to the world.”
“So you can see the anger. He’s trying to control it, but he can’t control it,” he said.
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