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White House’s suspicions of Netanyahu are growing day by day
President Donald Trump has been surprised by Israel’s actions in Gaza and Syria over the past week. The White House said he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on both occasions to “make things right.”
White House’s suspicions of Netanyahu are growing day by day
The incident is said to be a sign of increasingly tense relations between the two leaders.
Trump immediately reacted negatively to the Israeli attack on Gaza’s only Catholic church on Thursday. He called Netanyahu to express his displeasure and wanted to ensure that the Israeli prime minister issued a statement saying the attack was “wrong.” White House press secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters at the White House on Monday that the president has a strong professional relationship with Netanyahu and that he is in regular contact with her. But he was surprised by the bombing in Syria and the attack on a Catholic church in Gaza. Trump was also surprised by the news of Israeli airstrikes targeting government buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Israel carried out the attack at a time when the Trump administration is working to rebuild the war-torn country.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters at the White House on Monday that the president has a strong professional relationship with Netanyahu and that she communicates with him regularly. But she was surprised by the bombing in Syria and the attack on a Catholic church in Gaza.
Levitt added that in both cases, the president quickly called the prime minister and asked him to deal with the situation.
Levitt referred to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s efforts to defuse tensions in Syria, saying that Trump has eased sanctions on Syria. He has expressed support for the country’s former rebel leader and current president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Trump invited Netanyahu to the White House earlier this month. He has long had a complicated relationship with the Israeli leader. According to those familiar with the matter, the two are not particularly close personally, and mutual distrust has sometimes taken a toll on their relationship.
Yet when Trump backed Israel’s airstrikes on Iran this summer, his relationship with Netanyahu seemed closer than ever. At a dinner in the White House Blue Room earlier this month, Netanyahu dramatically handed Trump a letter in which he said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump had hoped that Netanyahu’s four-day visit to Washington would lead to progress on a ceasefire in Gaza, allowing for the release of Hamas prisoners and more humanitarian aid to enter the besieged Gaza Strip. Trump had repeatedly said before the trip that he expected a ceasefire to be announced that week.
But Netanyahu left the United States without announcing a deal. It has been almost a week since the mediators submitted their latest ceasefire and prisoner release proposal to Hamas. Everyone is waiting for a response from the Hamas leadership in Gaza.
Hamas said it was “working tirelessly day and night to reach an agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner releases in Gaza,” two sources told CNN.
The ongoing war in Gaza is taking a toll. Trump is particularly concerned about the church bombing that killed three people last week.
“This conflict in the Middle East has been going on for a long time and has become more brutal in recent days. You have certainly seen more people die every day. The president never wants to see such deaths. He wants this carnage to stop.”
Levitt added that the administration’s efforts to get aid into Gaza are commendable. Although the foreign ministers of 25 Western countries have criticized Israel for allowing “a trickle of aid” into the country, accusing it of allowing “a trickle of aid.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire at aid stations since late May while trying to access humanitarian aid.
Levitt said the president is largely responsible for the limited aid that is being delivered to Gaza. He wants the process to be completed peacefully, so that no more people die.
