Trump Comes Down Hard on Netanyahu: October 7 ‘Happened on His Watch’

(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Former President Donald Trump came down hard on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a new interview with Time, criticizing him directly for the October 7 terrorist attack and indirectly for Israel’s presentation of its war against Hamas in the days since.

Asked if he thought it was time for Netanyahu “to go,” Trump did not come to his old ally’s defense.

“Well, I had a bad experience with Bibi. And it had to do with [Qasem] Soleimani, because as you probably know by now, he dropped out just before the attack,” replied Trump. “And I said, ‘What’s that all about?’ Because that was going to be a joint and all of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it. And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something. I would say that what happened on—the October 7 should have never happened.”

“It happened on his watch,” observed the former president’s interlocutor.

“No, it happened on his watch. And I think it’s had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn’t have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment. They had—everything was there to stop that,” said Trump. “And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed. And now you have the hostage situation—”

Shortly after that, Trump was asked if he thought he “could work better” with Benny Gantz, one of Netanyahu’s political rivals.

“I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that. I haven’t spoken to him about it. But you have some very good people that I’ve gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job,” said Trump. “And I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.”

Trump also said that “Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations.”

“I don’t think that the Israel Defense Fund or any other group should be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed with possibly people in those buildings every single night, which is what they do,” he added.