WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump reportedly fumed over Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a highly heated phone call regarding Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon. The aggressive escalation heavily threatens to jeopardise the ongoing, sensitive peace talks with Iran to end the broader Middle East conflict. During the intense call, the US leader went to the extent of calling Netanyahu “f***ing crazy” and bluntly accused him of extreme ingratitude, according to an exclusive report by Axios.
Citing senior US officials and a third reliable source briefed thoroughly on the call, the American publication reported that Trump has effectively put the brakes on Israel’s immediate plan to strike Beirut. He reportedly informed the Israeli leader that continuous Israeli threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would only serve to further isolate Israel on the global stage.
Inside the explosive Trump-Netanyahu call, Trump also explicitly claimed that he had personally helped keep Netanyahu out of jail—a direct reference to the political and diplomatic support rendered during the Israeli leader’s high-profile corruption trial. “You’re fucking 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,” Trump told Netanyahu, according to the leaked Axios report. At one point, a source noted that Trump got visibly “pissed” with Netanyahu and asked him point-blank, “What the fuck are you doing?” Prior to the call, Trump reportedly understood that Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy militia operating from Lebanon, had been firing at Israel and that Tel Aviv had a right to defend itself. However, sources noted that Trump strongly felt Netanyahu was escalating the conflict in an entirely disproportionate manner in recent days.
In addition to launching threats on Beirut, Israel has been steadily expanding its ground military operations in southern Lebanon. Trump was reportedly furious over the fact that Netanyahu’s sudden decision to escalate in Lebanon was threatening to completely implode his high-stakes negotiations with Iran. US sources told Axios that the president had been deeply concerned about the rising number of Lebanese civilian casualties and strongly objected to the controversial Israeli military tactic of knocking down entire residential buildings just to take out a single Hezbollah commander. Following the call, an anonymous Israeli official told Axios that the Jewish state no longer plans to execute strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
This is by no means the first major disagreement between the US and the Israeli leaders. Trump and Netanyahu share a highly complex, decades-long relationship, which has consistently been marked by periods of strong public alignment and deep private tension. However, according to the Axios report, this particular conversation stands out as one of Trump’s worst and most volatile calls with Netanyahu since he returned to office last year in January.
Immediately after the phone call with Netanyahu, which he later publicly touted on social media as “productive”, Trump announced that no Israeli troops would head to Beirut. “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you, Bibi!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. The US leader further added, “I also had a conversation with representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them.” Later, Netanyahu also confirmed the conversation but cast it less as a submission to restraint and more as a stern warning, saying he told Trump that Tel Aviv would strike targets in Beirut if Hezbollah’s attacks did not stop. The fighting presents a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war, as Tehran wants any agreement to include Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have reportedly secured Hezbollah’s approval of a proposal by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel would not strike Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah would not attack northern Israel.
ലഘു വിവരണം
ലെബനനിലെ സൈനിക നീക്കങ്ങളെച്ചൊല്ലി യുഎസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് ഡൊണാൾഡ് ട്രംപും ഇസ്രായേൽ പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി ബെന്യാമിൻ നെതന്യാഹൂവും തമ്മിൽ കടുത്ത ഫോൺ തർക്കം നടന്നതായി റിപ്പോർട്ട്. ഇറാനുമായുള്ള യുഎസിന്റെ സമാധാന ചർച്ചകളെ ഇസ്രായേൽ ആക്രമണം ബാധിക്കുമെന്നതാണ് ട്രംപിനെ ചൊടിപ്പിച്ചത്. നെതന്യാഹുവിന് വട്ടാണെന്നും താൻ ഇല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ അയാൾ ജയിലിൽ പോയേനെയെന്നും ട്രംപ് ആക്രോശിച്ചതായി അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര മാധ്യമങ്ങൾ റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്യുന്നു. ട്രംപിന്റെ ഇടപെടലിനെത്തുടർന്ന് ബെയ്റൂട്ട് ആക്രമിക്കാനുള്ള പദ്ധതി ഇസ്രായേൽ തൽക്കാലം മാറ്റിവെച്ചു.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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