Former President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary attack on Israel’s government on Wednesday night, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “let us down” by not participating in the operation that killed a top Iranian general in early 2020. , and called Hezbollah “very smart.” ” hours after the Lebanon-based terrorist group fired missiles at Israeli troops.
During a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump, 77, blamed Israeli and U.S. government officials for Wednesday’s incursion by Iranian-backed jihadists, which came days after Hamas terrorists infiltrated into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,300 people. —including hundreds of women, children and the elderly.
The former president claimed that the Biden administration and Israeli officials had publicly pointed out the vulnerabilities of the Jewish state, speculating that those comments encouraged Hezbollah.
“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Wow, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable point,'” Trump said. the crowd. “I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. “They are all very intelligent.”
Trump praised Hezbollah and called the Iran-backed terrorist group “very smart” hours after it attacked Israel.DeSantis War Room/X
Hezbollah is a terrorist group financed by Iran and based in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border.
Hamas is a political organization and terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, a narrow strip of land that lies between Israel and Egypt. Members of his Qassam Brigade carried out Saturday’s attack.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated terrorist organizations by Israel, the United States and other countries around the world.
Trump accused the Biden administration and Israeli officials of pointing out the vulnerabilities of the Jewish state.DeSantis War Room/X
Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential election, later claimed that Israeli defense officials made the same mistake.
“They have a minister of national defense or someone who says, ‘I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack us from the north.’ So the next morning they attacked,” Trump said.
“They may not have done it, but if you listened to this moron, you would attack from the north, because he said, ‘That’s our weak point,’” the former president continued. “Who has heard of officials saying on television that they hope the enemy does not attack in a certain area?”
Women wave Palestinian flags during a demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 11, 2023. AP
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: how we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches largest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, more than 3,000 wounded and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities. .
Hamas terrorists were seen taking women hostage and parading them down the street in gruesome videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report that at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 injured.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Wednesday that Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position, but did not comment on possible casualties.
Hezbollah claims to have killed and wounded Israeli troops in the attack.
In a clip from an interview with Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show” set to air Thursday, Trump sharply criticized Netanyahu, saying the leader was unprepared for the Hamas attack.
A member of Kataib Hezbollah along with other men burn American and Israeli flags with an image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Najaf, Iraq October 11, 2023. REUTERS
“We have to protect Israel, there is no other option,” Trump said. “And why do we have to do it? [Netanyahu] He has been very hurt by what happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”
Trump went on to suggest that if he were president, the United States would have detected and prevented the terrorist attack in Israel.
“And under Trump, they wouldn’t have had to be prepared,” he said.
Trump blamed Israeli and U.S. government officials for Wednesday’s attack by the Iran-backed terrorist group. DeSantis/X War Room
During his remarks at the Florida rally, Trump promised to “support Israel 100%” and “not let them fail” if he is elected president, moments before recounting “a bad experience” he had with the country’s leaders during his term. .
“When we take out [Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani], it was us and Israel working as a group. And we knew where it was. We knew how it would come. We knew the plane, we knew everything. “We worked on it for weeks, months, actually,” Trump recalled.
“He was a very bad guy, very smart, but very bad,” Trump said of the Iranian general killed during a US airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.
Follow the Post’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas
“And Israel was going to do this with us and it was being planned and worked on for months and now we had everything ready to go. And the night before it happened, I got a call saying that Israel will not participate in this attack,” Trump said, adding that “no one had heard this story before” and joking that it could be classified.
Trump explained that he ordered the strike on Soleimani anyway and was not told why Israel supposedly backed out at the last minute, calling Netanyahu’s alleged decision “a terrible thing.”
“But I will never forget, I will never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” Trump said. “That was a very terrible thing.”
A damaged building in the village of Dhayra, southern Lebanon, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on October 11, 2023.WAEL HAMZEH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“And then Bibi tried to take credit. That was it. That didn’t make me feel very good, but that’s okay,” Trump lamented.
The former president added that Israel must “get stronger” and “step up its game” militarily.
Trump’s comments were condemned by one of his rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Terrorists have killed at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostages, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would now decide to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,'” DeSantis tweeted.
“As president, I will support Israel and treat terrorists like the scum they are.”
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