President Donald Trump swore repeatedly at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call Monday after Netanyahu threatened to resume bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to a report from Axios, a US news website that has published accounts of high-level conversations between the two leaders. The report, citing a US official summarizing Trump’s remarks, described Trump shouting “What the fuck are you doing?” and telling Netanyahu, “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.”
The phone call took place after Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to resume bombing the southern Dahiya area of Beirut to target Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that has launched drone strikes into Israel. The Israel Defense Forces told Lebanese civilians to evacuate areas of southern Beirut, causing thousands of people to flee.
Iran announced Tuesday that it would suspend peace talks with the United States over Israel’s campaign in southern Lebanon. Tehran insisted Lebanon should be covered by a ceasefire agreement meant to facilitate negotiations to open the Strait of Hormuz and lift a US blockade of Iranian ports. The announcement effectively froze talks days after Trump had claimed negotiators reached a preliminary deal he was considering whether to sign.
Channel 12, an independent Israeli news network, contested the details of the Axios report. Amit Segal, the network’s chief political analyst, said Trump did not attack Netanyahu personally and that the two came to an agreement that Netanyahu would refrain from attacking the Beirut suburbs if Hezbollah ceased its attacks on Israel.
Trump and Netanyahu have a history of strained interactions. Trump publicly fumed last year that Iran and Israel “don’t know what the fuck they’re doing” during a 12-day exchange of strikes involving air power, missiles and drones. After Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election, which Trump contested, Trump said of Netanyahu, “Fuck him.”
Pro-Israel allies of Trump have called for the US to go further in its conflict with Iran, while others seek a rapid conclusion to the war to mitigate economic damage before the US mid-term elections in November. Mark Levin, an influential pro-Israel talk show host who speaks to Trump, wrote that the “Iranian regime will benefit from that leak, viewing us as weak and desperate for a deal – even coming to Hezbollah’s defense.”
Netanyahu faces his own political pressure. Israel’s parliament backed a bill this week in the first reading to dissolve the Knesset and trigger early elections, and Netanyahu’s corruption trial is scheduled to continue after repeated delays because of Israel’s security situation.