White House views Netanyahu’s actions as damaging to POTUS Trump’s peace efforts, calls PM ‘child who just won’t behave’
Times of Israel
The White House is alarmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisions in Syria, multiple officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration were quoted Sunday as saying, branding the premier a ‘madman’ and ‘a child who just won’t behave.’
‘Bibi acts like a madman. He bombs everything all the time,’ a White House official was cited as saying by the Axios news outlet, using the premier’s nickname. ‘This could undermine what Trump is trying to do.’
Israel began carrying out strikes on Syrian troops rolling into Sweida on Tuesday after local government forces were accused of killing scores of people in the Druze city of Sweida, and on Wednesday the IDF struck key buildings in Damascus.
‘The feeling is that every day there is something new. What the f***?’ said a second senior US official after an Israeli tank shell hit a church in Gaza, killing three people, in what the IDF says was a ‘mistake’.
While Trump did not publicly address the strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church, he held an angry phone call with Netanyahu and demanded that he release a statement expressing regret over the incident, which the premier did a short while later.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters that Trump’s reaction to the incident ‘was not positive.’
There is growing skepticism in the US administration about Netanyahu and his policies, said a third official, describing Netanyahu as ‘a child who just won’t behave.’
It was not clear whether the officials’ frustrations reflected the feelings of Trump himself. However, it wouldn’t be the first time the president has been irked by Israel’s behavior.
In an unprecedented, public, foul-mouthed tirade, Trump voiced his frustration against Israel last month when it planned a massive airstrike in response to the launch of a single missile by Iran after a ceasefire ending the 12-day war took effect.
According to Axios, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack pressed Israel on Tuesday to halt its attacks on Syria to make room for diplomacy, and Israel agreed. However, on Wednesday, Israel carried out extensive attacks in Syria, including on its military headquarters and close to the presidential palace.
Israel said it was acting in support of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, with many serving in the Israeli military.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey complained to the White House, as did Barrack and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
‘The bombing in Syria caught the president and the White House by surprise,’ a US official was quoted as saying. ‘The president doesn’t like turning on the television and seeing bombs dropped in a country where he is seeking to bring peace and made a monumental announcement to help rebuild.’
‘Bibi’s political agenda is driving his senses, and it will turn out to be a big mistake for him long-term,’ one official said.