‘I’ve done more for Israel than any other president. Yeah, I will protect Israel.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
US Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump reiterated statements he made days after October 7th that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “deserves blame” for the Hamas invasion, but added that if elected he will strive to protect Israel.
In an interview with Time magazine, Trump criticized Netanyahu and noted that October 7th “happened on his watch.”
Speaking of Israel, Trump said, “They have the most sophisticated equipment.”
He added, “They had—everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed.”
This echoes a speech Trump made on October 11 2023 during which he said Netanyahu “was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”
He added, “Thousands of people knew about it and they let this slip by. ”
It was also on October 11 that Trump recounted an anecdote that Netanyahu allegedly pulled out of a plan to kill Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Qassam Soleimani in January 2020.
In the interview, Trump refers to this alleged incident as a “bad experience” with Netanyahu.
He said, “All of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it. And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something.”
Given his criticisms of Netanyahu, Trump was asked his opinion of Benny Gantz, the presumptive rival of Netanyahu.
“I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that… I haven’t spoken to him about it. But you have some very good people that I’ve gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job,” Trump said.
The GOP candidate claimed as he has several times in speeches, that October 7th wouldn’t have happened if Trump were in the White House.
“It would have never happened. You wouldn’t have had—Hamas had no money,” he said.
“We had no terror… and we got rid of ISIS 100%. Now they’re starting to come back,” Trump concluded.
Among his criticisms, Trump faulted Israe’s approach to public relations for the widespread disapproval of the war in Gaza.
“I don’t think that the Israel Defense Fund [sic] or any other group should be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed with possibly people in those buildings every single night, which is what they do,” he said.
Trump concluded the interview by insisting he was wildly popular in Israel and that if he is elected he will protect Israel.
“There’s been no president that’s done what I’ve done in Israel,” Trump claims. “And it’s interesting. The people of Israel appreciate it. I have like a 98%—I have the highest approval numbers.”
“I have been very loyal to Israel, more loyal than any other president,” he said.
“I’ve done more for Israel than any other president. Yeah, I will protect Israel,” he concluded.