Former President Donald Trump believes Israel needs to quickly end its war against Hamas given the global anger toward them.
Trump, who is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, said during a Thursday interview on Fox & Friends, “I want him to finish up and get it done quickly. You got to get it done quickly because they are getting decimated with this publicity.”
“Israel is not very good at public relations,” he added. “Israel has to handle their public relations, their public relations are not good. And they have got to get this done fast because the world is not taking lightly to it.”
Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, which was widely boycotted by Democrats, and he is set to meet separately with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on Thursday.
The Israeli prime minister’s visit began one day after Biden announced his decision to end his reelection campaign, while Harris has since emerged as his presumptive replacement atop the Democratic ticket. Biden now no longer needs to consider his reelection efforts in how he works with Netanyahu on ending the war, while the vice president also has an opportunity to distinguish how, if at all, a potential Harris administration would handle Israel and the conflict.
Netanyahu praised both Biden and Trump for the support their administrations provided to Israel during his speech to lawmakers, though he also urged the current administration to do more to help them finish the war by providing them with more offensive military support.
“I deeply appreciate America’s support, including in this current war. But this is an exceptional moment. Fast-tracking U.S. military aid could dramatically expedite an end to the war in Gaza and help prevent a broader war in the Middle East,” Netanyahu told Congress.
The United States has held up one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, according to U.S. defense officials, due to concerns about the destruction they could cause if used in densely populated areas, though the bombs are effective in targeting Hamas’s underground tunnel infrastructure.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in response to those comments, told reporters on Thursday, “We have provided security assistance to Israel at record pace, and we’ve done that from the very beginning. In terms of the prime minister’s comments, I won’t comment on that. What I will tell you is I’m going to stay focused on what we’ve done to date, providing Israel what it needs to be successful.”
Trump, in his interview, was asked about the fast-tracking of weapons to Israel if the war is ongoing at the time of the inauguration of the next president, and he said, “I would make sure that it gets over with fast. You have to end this fast.”
Thousands of Hamas terrorists crossed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped roughly 250 others on Oct. 7. Israel, in response, said it would be invading Gaza with the intent of dismantling Hamas and ending their military and governing capabilities.
After about nine months of war, more than 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas — though it’s unclear how many are still alive — while Israel’s military has killed approximately 39,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel’s war has resulted in the overwhelming destruction of the infrastructure within the strip, most of the population has been displaced, and the entire enclave is facing the threat of famine and disease. The International Criminal Court has announced its pursuit of arrest warrants.
Hamas intentionally embeds itself within and underneath densely populated civilian areas, like mosques, schools, and hospitals, in order to use those civilians as human shields, which is also considered a war crime though it does not absolve Israel of its legal requirements to try to limit civilian casualties.
The Biden administration has repeatedly urged the Israelis to do more to protect civilian life, while a divide emerged within the Democratic Party about whether the administration should leverage military aid to Israel to get them to take further precautions for civilians.
Netanyahu, during his address to Congress, was defiant in defending the military’s actions in Gaza and downplayed the number of civilian casualties believed to have occurred during recent Israeli operations. In an effort to highlight the alliance, the prime minister also said Israel was fighting a war for the U.S. against Iran’s proxy forces and terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Biden and Netanyahu are set to discuss the possible ceasefire deal that has eluded both sides for several months. The U.S. has desperately sought to get an agreement across the finish line for a long time, but Israel and Hamas have been unable to come to any deal to stop the war since the weeklong ceasefire in late November.
The prime minister did not announce during his speech that a deal was imminent, like the families of the hostages had hoped, though he said they’re “actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their release.”
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“I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages, and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war,” Biden said in his Wednesday night address explaining his decision to leave the presidential race. “We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.”
The former president and GOP presidential nominee also said he believes “a lot of the hostages are dead.”