‘Bibi? F*** him’ – Donald Trump’s withering verdict on Netanyahu
The former US president accuses the ex-Israeli premier of disloyalty in an interview published on Friday
Michael Daventry is Jewish News’s foreign and broadcast editor
Donald Trump lashed out at Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu with an expletive over his decision to congratulate Joe Biden on his presidential election victory last winter, it has emerged.
The former US president expressed his fury at the ex-Israeli premier in an interview earlier this year by saying the two had not spoken in months and adding: “F*** him.”
“Nobody did more for Bibi. And I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi,” Trump said in the remarks published by Yediot Aharonot in Israel on Friday.
“But I also like loyalty… Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.”
Netanyahu, who was prime minister at the time of the US presidential election, delivered a carefully-worded congratulation to Biden after the result was declared in which he did not refer to him as president-elect.
He followed up that message on social with another praising Trump.
But in the Yediot Aharonot interview conducted in April this year, Trump appeared to be incensed by Netanyahu’s perceived lack of loyalty.
The Trump administration made sweeping changes to US policy on Israel during its four years in office, including recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, as well as dropping many objections to its settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“I did it right before the election, which helped him (Netanyahu) a lot,” Trump said in the interview.
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