Trump says Israel exists because of US support as tensions with Netanyahu deepen

Donald Trump, United States president has declared that Israel would not exist without American support and his own leadership, as disagreements with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iran peace deal and the conflict in Lebanon became increasingly public.

Speaking on Tuesday at the G7 summit in Évian les Bains, France, Trump criticised Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, saying the war had lasted too long and resulted in the deaths of too many civilians.

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“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and they’re not all Hezbollah,” Trump said.

The remarks came after Washington and Tehran announced on Sunday that they had reached an agreement to end the wider Middle East conflict, including fighting involving Lebanon, and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

However, Netanyahu rejected suggestions of a full withdrawal from Lebanon, insisting that Israeli troops would remain in security zones for as long as necessary.

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“I want to make clear: We will remain in the security zones as long as required in order to defend our country. The struggle has not ended,” Netanyahu said.

The disagreement became more visible after Israel carried out an air strike in a suburb of Beirut shortly after Trump announced the agreement with Iran. The US president expressed frustration with Netanyahu, accusing him of undermining efforts to maintain the fragile peace.

“I’ve had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” Trump said.

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He added that Israel should have completed its military objectives much faster and suggested that Syria was handling the fight against Hezbollah more effectively.

“Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments mark a rare public rebuke of one of America’s closest allies and reveal growing strains between Washington and Tel Aviv at a critical moment for efforts to secure lasting stability in the Middle East.