EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France, June 17 - At the close of the G7 summit in France on Wednesday, President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exercise greater restraint in Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Addressing reporters, Trump said of Netanyahu: "Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes." The president added that in his view the Israeli leader could employ a "softer touch" in Lebanon and offered a pointed example: "You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah."
The remarks represent the latest public rebuke by Trump toward Israel’s handling of operations against the Iran-backed militant group, and underscore repeated tensions between the two leaders over whether Israel should limit its strikes in Lebanon. According to the account given by the president, the two have a continuing dispute over how forcefully to pursue Hezbollah.
U.S. and Israeli officials have said Netanyahu helped persuade Trump to take military action against Iran, and Netanyahu participated in attacks that were launched on February 28. Despite that cooperation, the Israeli prime minister has maintained that Israel is not constrained by any U.S.-Iran agreement in its fight against Hezbollah. Still, the level of hostilities in Lebanon has eased somewhat since Trump sharply criticized Netanyahu earlier in the week.
Trump further commented on the U.S.-Israel relationship, accepting a characterization of Israel as a "very small partner" of the United States while also thanking Netanyahu for his contribution to the campaign against Iran. In response to reports that the administration had rejected an Israeli request, Trump said he had sent Netanyahu a copy of the "memorandum of understanding" that the United States reached with Iran on Sunday.
That memorandum, the president said, paves the way for broader U.S.-Iran peace talks scheduled to begin in Switzerland on Friday. Trump framed his sharing of the document as a rebuttal to reports that the administration had not provided the material to the Israeli government.
Context and developments
- Public exchange highlights a diplomatic rift over military tactics in Lebanon between the U.S. president and Israel's prime minister.
- Netanyahu previously played a role in persuading the U.S. to take military action against Iran and joined strikes on February 28.
- Trump said he had provided Netanyahu with the U.S. memorandum of understanding with Iran, which he says enables further talks in Switzerland beginning Friday.