Tag: Netanyahu

  • Donald Trump thinks Hezbollah is ‘very smart’

    Donald Trump thinks Hezbollah is ‘very smart’

    While lambasting Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump appreciated Hezbollah for being “very smart”. While speaking to a rally of supporters in Florida, Trump did not hold back and even called the Israeli Defence Minister a “jerk” for stating on national TV that he hopes they don’t attack from the North because they did the following morning. He said that these “statements are passed when you’re doing a con-job and fully prepared but in actual you were not. Israel was not prepared.”

    Earlier he claimed to have read Biden’s security papers where it was mentioned that he hopes Hezbolllah does not attack from the North because that is the most vulnerable spot. He praises the group’s intelligence that they (Hezbollah) are all very smart and they know the weak-spots.

    He carried on by accusing Iran of being a potentially big, vicious force that Israel is fighting and he advised the latter to straighten themselves up.

    He reminisced about the time he was disappointed by Israel when Netanyahu let them (USA) down while countering Iran-hinting at the target killing of General Qasim Sulemani-he still wants Israel to get it right this time.

    Trump’s criticism of Biden is not a surprise but in his interview to Fox News he asserted that, “We have to protect Israel, there’s no choice.” He goes on by saying “He(Netanyahu) is hurt very badly, he was not prepared and Israel was not prepared. And under Trump they wouldn’t have to be prepared…”

    His statements have invited a lot of criticism from various fronts. “[I]t is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,’” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    White House called these statements as “dangerous and unhinged.”

    Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie called Trump “a fool” for his remarks on Hezbollah and Netanyahu.

    This has infuriated people and Trump knows it when he said that the media comes at him for calling President XI of China “smart” too but he remarks nonchalantly, that he “gotta say” what he has to say.

  • ‘Israeli PM secretly visited Saudi Arabia, met crown prince’

    Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials.

    Hebrew-language media cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince. The prince was there for talks with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    A Gulfstream IV private jet took off just after 1740 GMT from Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, according to data from website FlightRadar24.com. The flight traveled south along the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula before turning toward Neom and landing just after 1830 GMT, according to the data. The flight took off from Neom around 2150 GMT and followed the same route back to Tel Aviv.

    The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

    Pompeo traveled with an American press pool on his trip throughout the Mideast, but left them at the Neom airport when he went into his visit with the crown prince.

    Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister has denied reports of a meeting between MBS and Netanyahu, as per Reuters.

    While Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have reached deals under the Trump administration to normalise ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia so far has remained out of reach.

    King Salman long has supported the Palestinians in their effort to secure an independent state. However, analysts and insiders suggest his 35-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, likely is more open to the idea of normalising relations without major progress in the moribund peace process.

    The kingdom approved the use of Saudi airspace for Israeli flights to the UAE, a decision announced the day after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, met with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh. Bahrain normalizing ties also suggest at least a Saudi acquiescence to the idea, as the island kingdom relies on Riyadh.

    Israel has long had clandestine ties to Gulf Arab states that have strengthened in recent years as they have confronted a shared threat in Iran.