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US President Donald Trump sharply criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a tense phone call on Monday, according to three people familiar with the exchange cited by the news website Axios.
The call came as Israel expanded its military operations in Lebanon and amid concerns that the escalation could derail ongoing US talks with Iran.
A US official told Axios that Trump told Netanyahu, “You’re f****** crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
Another source quoted Trump as saying: “What the f*** are you doing?” and added that the US president was “pissed”.
The White House has not publicly commented on the reported exchange.
US officials said Trump acknowledged that Hezbollah had launched attacks on Israel and that Israel had the right to defend itself.
However, they said he believed Netanyahu’s recent actions were disproportionate, citing the scale of civilian casualties and strikes on buildings to target individual commanders.