Former president Donald Trump said Thursday there is “no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump.”
He made the comment in a written statement after coming under fire for his criticism of the Israeli government earlier this week.
“I will never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” Trump said during a speech in Florida on Wednesday. He claimed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to help the U.S. execute the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
Trump went on to suggest that Israel would not be in crisis if he had won the 2020 election.
“If the election wasn’t rigged, there would be nobody even thinking about going into Israel. The election was rigged, very sadly rigged,” he said.
He then blasted the Biden administration for drawing Hezbollah into the conflict by suggesting that the Iranian-backed terror group could try to escalate the conflict by attacking over the Lebanon-Israel border.
“Hezbollah is very smart; they’re all very smart,” Trump said. He suggested the group only thought to attack the Jewish state after the Biden administration commented on the possibility.
In his statement Thursday, Trump doubled down on touting his prowess in navigating foreign affairs.
“Under my leadership, the United States stood in complete solidarity with Israel, and as a result, Israel was safe, America was safe, and for the first time in decades, we made historic strides for Peace in the Middle East,” he said. “As an example, all of the experts said that the Abraham Accords couldn’t be done, but we got them done, and were able to set the Middle East in a new and positive direction.”
“Crooked Joe Biden’s weakness and incompetence has empowered and emboldened our enemies all over the World, and now, many lives have been so needlessly lost,” he added. “What a horrible failure Biden has been in sending 6 Billion Dollars to Iran, in a simple hostage swap, when Iran is the state sponsor of terrorist groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others.”
Trump’s comments on Thursday came one day after Florida governor Ron DeSantis condemned the former president’s criticism of the Israeli government.
“Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,’” DeSantis wrote on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are,” he added.
DeSantis, for his part, said he would introduce Florida-based sanctions against Iran, which is the primary backer of Hamas, in the upcoming legislative session.