Former President Donald Trump on Monday reinforced Israel’s war against Hamas but said the country made a “very big mistake” during counteroffensive operations in Gaza.
Israel is currently carrying out a sweeping counteroffensive against Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing over 1,200 civilians and kidnapping hundreds of others. While Trump applauded the retaliation against Hamas, he declared that Israel should not have initiated a bombing campaign inside of Gaza and warned it may hurt the country’s international reputation, during an interview with Israel Hayom. (RELATED: Netanyahu Ditches Plans For Israel’s Meeting With Biden Admin After US Fails To Veto UN Ceasefire Vote)
“You have to finish up your war. To finish it up. You got to get it done. And I am sure you will do that. We got to get to peace, we can’t have this going on,” Trump told Israel Hayom. “And I will say, Israel has to be very careful because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up, you have to get the job done. And you have to get on to peace, to get on to a normal life for Israel, and for everybody else.”
“I would say I would act very much the same way as [Israel] did [on Oct. 7]. You would have to be crazy not to. Only a fool would not do that. That was a horrible attack,” Trump said.
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Trump was then asked what could be done to combat the rise in antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive.
“Well, that’s because you fought back. And I think Israel made a very big mistake,” Trump responded. “I wanted to call [Israel] and say don’t do it. 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. The world is seeing this… every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people.”
“Go and do what you have to do. But you don’t do that. 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,” Trump said. “And I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.”
Trump also blamed President Joe Biden for the unfolding chaos in Gaza and the Middle East, declaring him as appearing “weak” and “ineffective” to foreign adversaries and too mentally unfit to take up geopolitical challenges.
“[Hamas has] no respect for him. He can’t put two sentences together,” Trump said. “He can’t talk. He’s a very dumb person. He’s a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible… [Hamas] would have never done that attack if I were there.”
“Biden is not a friend of Israel. Because if Biden was a friend of Israel, Oct. 7 would have never happened. Forget about what happened after Oct. 7,” Trump said. “If you had the proper president, [Oct. 7] would have never happened.”
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