According to an Axios report on Monday, President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu over his continued military action in Lebanon. Lebanon has been a major pressure point holding up negotiations between the United States and Iran ending the war, as Israel continues its own campaign in Lebanon.
Two sources claim that President Trump indicated he had kept Netanyahu out of jail in Israel following his own corruption trial in Israel. Although no transcript of the call has been made available to the public, one source summed up the president’s remarks to Netanyahu as follows: “You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
Another source said Trump yelled at one point, “What the f*** are you doing?”
Although some question whether the phone call actually occurred or not, the response from major pro-Israel voices such as Mark Levin lend credence to its authenticity. Levin initially did not doubt the call happened, writing that “THE LEAK IN AXIOS WAS A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW” and that “Whomever leaked that story to Barack Ravid at Axios did a grave disservice to our country, to our president, to Israel, and to Israel’s prime minister.”
“And for 100 other reasons, what was thought to be a devastating [sic] political hit on Netanyahu by the leakers about a private call between heads of state has done much damage to us and our military and our diplomatic strategy,” he continued.
Later, however, Levin claimed the call substance of the Axios report was “largely fabricated” and he reiterated his unwavering support for Israeli military objectives. “Israel must be free to do what it must,” Levin wrote, and there “must be no safe harbor for Hezbollah.”
Israel apparently has plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Following the phone call, President Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back. Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
Just a few hours later, he posted again, saying, “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you Bibi! I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”
Interestingly, between the time each of those posts were published, Netanyahu issued a contradicting statement. On X, he was quoted as saying, “I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut. This position of ours remains unchanged. Concurrently, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Nevertheless, Israel proceeded to strike targets outside of Beirut Monday and the strikes continued into Tuesday. The death toll from its 4-month campaign in Lebanon is approximately 3,400.
Much of Lebanon, including the south which is home to many Christian villages, has suffered from Israeli military incursion over the past few months.
In early March, a Maronite Catholic priest was killed in Israeli strikes. Although Israel claimed it was targeting Hezbollah cells in the area, the mayor of the town denied any Hezbollah presence.
In April, “Operation Eternal Darkness,” launched by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in Beirut, killed at least 357 people and wounded more than 1,000 according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Many of these were civilians, women and children included.
About a month later, an image of an IDF soldier desecrating a statue of the Blessed Mother went viral on social media.
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