Trump ‘not happy’ with Israel, tells Netanyahu to be more ‘responsible’ about Lebanon

President says he is uninterested in regime change in Iran; slams Israel for responding to Hezbollah attacks, urging Netanyahu to let Syria deal with Hezbollah.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump sharply criticized Israel’s conduct in Lebanon on Tuesday, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “more responsible” and suggesting that Syria could do a better job handling the terrorist group Hezbollah.

The president openly voiced his frustration with Israel after the Jewish state responded to two recent attacks by Hezbollah with targeted strikes on Hezbollah positions near Beirut.

“No, I am not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah,” Trump said. “They should have been able to do the job faster. It just goes on forever and when that happens it throws a negative light on the big deal – and that is the deal with Iran.”

Trump made the comments on Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, as the US and Iran prepared to move into the next phase of talks on a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the regional war.

“Israel’s fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed,” Trump continued.

“And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you are looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and they are not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you.”

“If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do the job,” Trump said.

“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it.”

Trump denied that he was frustrated with Netanyahu personally, saying, “No, we have a great relationship.”

But he Netanyahu’s policies in Lebanon, describing Israel’s responses to Hezbollah attacks as excessive.

“I didn’t like that he did an attack [over] a very minor little thing with some drones. I saw that attack, I saw where that bomb went. That was a vicious… that was too much. You can do too much also. But we’ve had a very effective relationship,” Trump said.

“Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel – because no other president was willing to do what I did. I had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” Trump said.

Trump also said the Iran deal was moving into a “second stage” and reiterated that Tehran would not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

“The only thing that really matters to me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and it says it loud and clear,” Trump said, adding that he never sought regime change in Tehran.

“You talk about regime change; I never cared about regime change,” Trump said. “But I guess you had [regime change],” the president added, referring to the elimination of much of Iran’s senior leadership.

“The first, group, they’re all dead. The second group, they’re dead. A part of the third group is gone. And we are dealing with people that I think are very rational people.”

Tuesday’s remarks marked one of Trump’s sharpest public rebukes of Netanyahu since the announcement of a preliminary US-Iran memorandum intended to extend a ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin 60 days of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and regional security issues.

Trump had already criticized an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in a Truth Social post two days earlier.

“This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran,” Trump wrote Sunday.

“We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down,” he added.