Earlier today, the United Nations’ Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after the U.S. choose to abstain from the vote.
The decision was seen as a direct rebuke of Netanyahu’s ongoing campaign to erradicate Hamas’ presence in the Palestinian territory. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington couldn’t vote “yes” on the proposal because it didn’t agree with everything. “Any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages,” she maintained.
That wasn’t good enough for the Israeli government. Monday’s vote prompted Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled trip to the United States by two of his senior advisers.
But if the embattled prime minister thought he could have at least counted on a show of moral support from former President Donald Trump, he would have been disappointed by Trump’s interview with Israel Hayom.
The Hill reports that the presidential front-runner’s criticism was two-pronged. First, Trump called the video documentation of the bombing of Gaza a “very big mistake.”
“I wanted to call [Israel] and say don’t do it. These photos and shots.” Trump told his interviewers. “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,” he continued, implying that millions of people across the world would see those images from the comfort of their homes every night.
Trump naturally blamed President Joe Biden for the deteriorating conditions in the Middle East and expressed his expected support for Israel but, uncharacteristically, offered a clear warning to America’s strongest ally in the region:
“Go and do what you have to do. But you don’t do that,” he said, referring to mass bombings. “And I think that’s one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback. If people didn’t see that, every single night I’ve watched every single one of those. And I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.”
He later urged the country’s leadership to change its public image in the conflict.
“Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations, because right now they’re in ruin,” Trump said. “They’re being hurt very badly, I think in a public relations sense.”
The criticism comes as Democrats continue to raise pressure on the Israeli government over civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Trump ended the interview with a new message for Netanyahu’s coalition government:
You have to finish up your war, you gotta get it done, and we gotta get to peace, you can’t have this going on.
Israel has to be very careful because you’re losing a lot of the world, a lot of support.
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