Former President Trump said his advice to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to quickly wrap up the war in Gaza and “get back to normalcy,” warning that Israel is badly losing the public relations battle with its campaign against Hamas.
Trump called into conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show Thursday morning and was asked about recent comments he made that were perceived to be critical of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
“And so, are you still 100 percent with Israel? And what’s your advice to Netanyahu, beyond ‘Get it over with in a hurry?’” Hewitt asked.
“Well, that’s all the advice you can give. I mean, that’s the advice,” Trump said. “You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy.”
“And I’m not sure that I’m loving the way they’re doing it, because you’ve got to have victory,” he continued. “You have to have a victory, and it’s taking a long time. And the other thing is I hate, they put out tapes all the time. Every night, they’re releasing tapes of a building falling down. They shouldn’t be releasing tapes like that. They’re doing — that’s why they’re losing the PR war. They — Israel is absolutely losing the PR war.”
The former president added that Israel must “finish what they started, and they’ve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.”
Israel is facing mounting scrutiny following a drone strike that killed several humanitarian aid workers with World Central Kitchen who were helping to deliver food in Gaza.
The Biden White House, Democratic lawmakers and watchdog groups have for months urged Israel to do more to protect civilians and to allow aid into Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed since the war began following Hamas’s attacks in Israel in October.
The former president, who is also the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has offered few insights into how he would handle the Israel-Hamas conflict if he were in the White House. Instead, he’s asserted repeatedly that the war would have never started if he were president.
Trump has highlighted his administration’s support for Israel, though he has also attacked Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats or do not support Israel, suggesting they hate their own religion.