Netanyahu: Trump doesn’t control me

Israeli prime minister pushes back against claims that the US is dictating Israel’s security policy, with Trump controlling him personally.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back over the weekend against accusations that he is being controlled by the Trump administration and that the United States is dictating Israel’s security policy vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip.

Recent reports in both Israeli and international media said the White House prevented Israel from restricting the entry of aid to Gaza in response to various violations by Hamas of the Gaza peace deal, including multiple attacks by Hamas terrorists on Israeli positions.

Last Sunday, two IDF soldiers were killed and three wounded in a missile attack in Rafah.

Israel also lambasted Hamas over the terror group’s failure to return all 48 hostages, living and dead, on schedule.

While Hamas has handed over all 20 of the living hostages it held at the start of the ceasefire, only 15 of the 28 dead captives have so far been returned.

Speaking at the opening of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu rejected reports that the US has vetoed Israeli policies, emphasizing that Jerusalem has pushed back on American proposals that it felt were contrary to Israel’s security needs.

“Over the past month, we have been witnessing ridiculous claims regarding the relationship between the United States and Israel,” Netanyahu said at the opening of the meeting.

“When I was in Washington, it was said there that I control the American administration, that I dictate its security policy to it. Now, the opposite is being claimed – the American administration controls me and dictates Israel’s security policy.

“Neither of these is true,” he continued. “Israel is an independent country; the United States is an independent country. The relations between us are relations between partners, and this partnership, which has reached an all-time high, was also expressed in the operational cooperation in the second part of Operation Rising Lion.”

Netanyahu noted ongoing IDF strikes on Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon and the string of reprisal strikes on Hamas terrorists in Gaza after last Sunday’s deadly attack.

“Our security policy is in our own hands. We are not prepared to tolerate attacks against us. We respond according to our own judgment against attacks, as we saw in Lebanon and, most recently, in Gaza.”

“We dropped 150 tons on Hamas and the terrorist elements after the attack on our two soldiers,” he said. “And, of course, we also thwart dangers as they are being formed, before they are carried out, as we did just yesterday in the Gaza Strip. We do not seek anyone’s approval for this.”

The prime minister also noted that Israel has not accepted attempts by the Trump administration to push for the inclusion of Turkish forces in an Egyptian-led, pan-Muslim security force that would be tasked with providing security in the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas.

“We are in control of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate,” Netanyahu stated.