Donald Trump lost his patience with Benjamin Netanyahu and told him off. Or did he?
According to Axios, Trump exploded during a private phone call with the Israeli prime minister after Israel expanded its military operations in Lebanon and reportedly considered strikes on Beirut.
U.S. officials familiar with the conversation claim Trump unloaded on Netanyahu in unusually blunt terms: “You’re f** *ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
If the conversation went as reported, F-bombs and all, would that be all it would take for Netanyahu to change course? It doesn’t seem likely, but according to Trump, the so-called pressure worked: “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.”
The thing is, we’re told these two have a falling out all the time, but the rifts never materialize into new policy. The U.S. just keeps supporting Israel.
Could the Axios report still be true? It could be.
But if history is any guide, Israel seems to have a long-standing stronghold on U.S. policymakers. So does it really matter if Trump actually exploded in anger during that call? Probably not.
The post Does It Even Matter? appeared first on Redacted.
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