Barak Ravid for Axios
President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon in an expletive-laden call on Monday, two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call told Axios.
Why it matters: Earlier on Monday, Iran threatened to abandon the negotiations with the U.S. over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. On the call, Trump called Netanyahu ‘crazy’ and accused him of ingratitude, according to two of the sources.
He also put the brakes on Israel’s plans to strike Beirut.
Behind the scenes: One U.S. official said that Trump told Netanyahu that following through on his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world.
Two of the sources said Trump claimed he’d helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
Summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the U.S. official said: ‘You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.’
A second source briefed on the call said Trump was ‘furious’ and at one point yelled at Netanyahu, saying ‘What the f*** are you doing?’
Driving the news: The U.S. official said Trump knew Hezbollah had been shooting at Israel and that Israel needed to defend itself, but felt in recent days that Netanyahu was escalating in a disproportionate way.
In addition to the threats on Beirut, Israel has been expanding its ground operation in southern Lebanon.
Another U.S. official said Trump was concerned by the fact that Israel had killed so many civilians in Lebanon, and objected to the Israelis knocking down buildings to take out a single Hezbollah commander.
State of play: Israel no longer plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut, an Israeli official told Axios.
Between the lines: Trump and Netanyahu have had several tense calls in the past but have still coordinated closely on Iran and other issues. One official said this was one of Trump’s worst calls with Netanyahu since he returned to office.
Trump’s anger appeared to be driven by the fact that Netanyahu’s decision to escalate in Lebanon was threatening to implode his negotiations with Iran.
After the call, Trump posted on Truth Social that the Iran talks were ‘continuing, at a rapid pace.’
The other side: Netanyahu released a statement after the call saying he’d told Trump that Israel would attack targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that in the meantime Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon.
‘Our position remains the same,’ Netanyahu wrote.
The second U.S. official claimed that Netanyahu was lying, and that in reality, Trump had ‘steamrolled’ Netanyahu on the phone call. ‘Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of,’ according to the official.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
What to watch: The memorandum the U.S. and Iran are negotiating calls for an end to the fighting in Lebanon, sources told Axios. That was the source of a previous tense call between Trump and Netanyahu.