Former President Donald Trump delivered a blunt warning to Israel in its war against Hamas in a recent interview.
Trump said Israel made a “big mistake” in how it handled the Oct. 7 surprise attack from Hamas and called for the Jewish nation to “finish up your war.”
“And I think Israel made a very big mistake. I wanted to call [Israel] and say don’t do it,” Trump told Israel Hayom during an interview held at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. “These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, that’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad picture for the world.”
As the war continues, fatigue is settling along with rising anger from progressives who allege Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
“You have to finish up your war. To finish it up,” Trump warned about the growing pushback from allies. “Israel has to be very careful because you’re losing a lot of the world. You’re losing a lot of support. But you have to finish up. You have to get the job done. And you have to get on to peace. You have to get on to a normal life for Israel and for everybody else.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the most prominent Jewish leader in Congress, turned down a request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Senate Democrats last week. But Netanyahu did speak with Senate Republicans.
Schumer called for new elections in Israel earlier this month, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”
Trump called Schumer’s actions “terrible” during the interview.
“I think it’s a terrible thing to do because it takes all of your momentum away, because they watch, and they watch the government, they watch the people what’s going on,” the former president said. “And it shows great division in the United States. You have to have support. And you don’t have the support you used to have.”
Trump also slammed President Joe Biden, whom he blamed for the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. “It [Oct. 7] was an attack that I blame on Biden because they [Hamas] have no respect for him,” the former president said. “He can’t put two sentences together. He can’t talk. He’s a very dumb person.”
Trump also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, whose stepdaughter raised funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“How could a Jewish person vote for Kamala Harris? And essentially, you know, that’s what probably is going to happen because you look at this guy [Biden], he can’t walk down a flight of stairs, he can’t walk across a room,” Trump said. “He can’t find the exit to a stage without five different sets of stairs. “You might have Kamala Harris if this doesn’t work out. Something happens to him and you have her. She supports the enemy, but he supports the enemy too.”
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Netanyahu canceled a delegation to Washington on Monday after the U.S. chose to abstain on a U.N. Security Council resolution regarding the war — a blow to diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Trump, however, said he “would love to” visit Israel.
“I was treated very well there. In Israel, they say if I ran for office in Israel, I’d get 98% of the vote,” he added.
