Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Largo estate on Friday following the prime minister's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday and his meeting with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Thursday.
Trump told reporters at a press conference following his meeting that electing Harris could lead to "World War III."
"We'll see how it goes. But if it all works out, if we win, it'll be very simple. It's all going to work out. And very quickly," Trump said. "If we don't, you're going to end up with major wars in the Middle East. And maybe a third World War. You are closer to a third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War. We've never been so close because we have incompetent people running the country."
Trump is not exaggerating. Every step Biden has taken in Ukraine and against Israel has made a wider war more likely.
Case in point: after Netanyahu's sit-down with Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic candidate let loose a torrent of criticism of the Israeli prime minister that was not received well.
After claiming she supported Israel against Iran and Iran-backed militias, Harris complained about the "human suffering" in Gaza without identifying the culprit.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris told reporters. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
"I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there," she added.
Hamas, who?
Netanyahu, far more experienced on the international stage than Harris, made it clear that the vice president's remarks were not helpful to the cause of peace.
“I think to the extent that Hamas understands there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States, that expedites the deal,” said Netanyahu to reporters at his meeting with Trump. “And I would hope that those comments don’t change that.”
In other words, sit down, shut up, and let the adults handle things.
“I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes on Friday. “They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish could vote for her, but that’s up to them.”
Trump has called himself the most "pro-Israel president" in American history. That may be, but in recent years, that relationship has soured somewhat. Trump criticized Netanyahu's handling of the war in its early stages
During his administration Trump enacted multiple policies to Israel’s benefit, including moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and backing multiple countries in Middle East and North Africa to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu called Trump the greatest friend Israel has ever had and heralded him for “unequivocally” standing by Israel during Trump’s tenure as commander in chief.
But the relationship grew bitter after the 2020 presidential election when Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his victory – something that infuriated the former president who considered the move disloyal. “F**k him,” Trump told Axios at the time.
Trump has also claimed that Netanyahu betrayed him in the final months of his presidency, arguing that Israel, at the 11th hour, declined to participate in the 2020 airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Netanyahu “let us down,” Trump said at a rally in October 2023.
All might not be forgiven, but both leaders are in full agreement about Biden-Harris.
"Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure,” a senior Israeli official told reporters.
“The more the gap widens between our countries, the more we move away from a deal and thus also increase the possibility of a regional escalation,” said the senior official.
Hamas will exploit any daylight between Israel and the U.S. and Harris just gave them an opening you can drive a truck through.
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