Trump slams Israel’s Netanyahu for congratulating Biden

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Former President Donald Trump lashed out with profanity at Benjamin Netanyahu for congratulating President Joe Biden on his victory in last year’s election, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday, reports The Associated Press.

Trump accused the former Israeli leader of disloyalty, saying he had helped Netanyahu in his own elections by reversing decades of U.S. policy and supporting Israel’s claims to territory seized in war. Trump is still falsely claiming the U.S. election was stolen from him.

In interviews earlier this year with the Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, Trump expressed fury at a video Netanyahu circulated online in which he congratulated Biden.

“Nobody did more for Bibi. And I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi,” Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, in the remarks published by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. “But I also like loyalty… Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.”

Netanyahu congratulated Biden more than 12 hours after the election had been called and after most other world leaders. Netanyahu did not refer to him as president-elect in the tweet, and followed it up with a post praising Trump.

Trump appeared to be particularly incensed by a video released by Netanyahu on Jan. 20, the day Biden was inaugurated, in which Netanyahu said he and Biden had a “warm personal friendship going back many decades.”

“I haven’t spoken to him since. F—- him,” Trump was quoted as saying.

Netanyahu was replaced as prime minister last summer after he was unable to form a governing majority in the wake of four hard-fought elections in less than two years.

The Trump administration took unprecedented steps to support Israel, including dropping objections to its settlements in the occupied West Bank and recognizing Jerusalem as its capital. After proposing a Mideast plan that was adamantly rejected by the Palestinians, the administration brokered normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab states.

Trump said his decision to recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 war, helped Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections in April 2019.

“I did it right before the election, which helped him (Netanyahu) a lot,” Trump said.