Donald Trump said he berated Benjamin Netanyahu in a call earlier this week over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, telling the Israeli prime minister he was “a little bit perturbed” at his “constantly fighting with Lebanon.” The blunt exchange landed on Wednesday, when Trump also described Netanyahu as “f****ing crazy,” even as he said he likes him and works well with him.
Trump’s comments drew attention because they touched the same fault line running through the Gaza war’s wider regional spillover: Lebanon, Hezbollah and the talks between the United States and Iran. The former president said on Monday that he had spoken to Netanyahu and a representative from Hezbollah, and that both sides agreed to hold fire. Since then, the Israeli military has held off attacks against Beirut, but fighting in southern Lebanon has continued.
Netanyahu tried to drain the confrontation of drama. Speaking on CNBC on Wednesday, he rejected the idea that his ties with Trump had shifted, saying the relationship remained great and that the two men had mutual respect. “No, this has been this has been a great relationship because he’s been the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House,” he said, adding that they have “tactical disagreements” but always find a way through them. “We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon, we have common action,” Netanyahu said.
The distance between the two accounts matters because Israel’s attacks in Lebanon have risked derailing talks between the United States and Iran, while Tehran has suggested it may respond militarily to Israel’s assault. Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran, remains at the center of the fight, and Netanyahu said he and Trump are on the same page about disarming the group. He added, “I think he understands that Lebanon has been taken hostage by Hezbollah.”
What remains unclear is whether the reported hold-fire understanding can outlast the battlefield. Israel has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and razed entire towns to the ground there, yet the fighting has not stopped. Trump says he reached an arrangement on Monday; the next test is whether that arrangement changes anything on the ground, or whether the war keeps moving despite the deal.
