At the G7 summit in France on Wednesday night, Donald Trump delivered one of the sharpest public messages an American president has aimed at Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during wartime. He called Netanyahu “a very good man” and said the two had “an amazing partnership,” but then made clear where he sees the balance of power: “He will say that we are the big partner and he is the little partner, and that is true.”
Trump’s most pointed criticism focused on Lebanon. He said he had “a small disagreement” with Netanyahu and urged him to act more gently, saying, “You can do it a little softer, Bibi. You do not have to knock down a building every time someone from Hezbollah goes into it.” He later said the Israeli strike in Beirut was “not necessary,” described civilians living with buildings falling around them, and asked, “How would you want to live there?”
Behind the scenes, a White House briefing on the understandings with Iran showed the same shift. Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon is not a condition in the memorandum of understanding with Tehran, but Washington no longer treats Lebanon as solely an Israeli matter. An American official said the deal “will not be a unilateral cease-fire,” and that if Hezbollah attacks Israel, “Israel will have the full right to strike back.” At the same time, the official said Iran should “put a leash on its dog in Hezbollah,” and that the administration hopes the Iran deal will help create a new framework between Israel and Lebanon.
Trump framed the Iran agreement as his main achievement. He said Netanyahu had begged Barack Obama not to sign the previous nuclear deal, and that if he had not canceled it, “Israel would have been wiped out.” He added that Israel already got what it needed most, namely that Iran will not be nuclear. He also said the current Iranian leadership is “smarter” and “less radical,” almost a form of “regime change.” The memorandum, as read out in the briefing, calls for reducing enriched material under IAEA supervision, opening the Strait of Hormuz, gradual sanctions relief, monitoring, and an Iranian pledge not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons. Trump said that if Iran violates the deal, “we will go back to bombing.”
