Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team are working behind closed doors to win over former President Donald Trump’s approval after the two world leaders had a falling out in 2020, Axios reported on Tuesday.
Netanyahu called President Joe Biden in 2020 following the year’s election and congratulated him on his win, which Trump viewed as an insult and prompted him to stop speaking to the Israeli leader. As Trump’s chance for a win in 2024 increases, Netanyahu’s team is attempting to win Trump’s favor back — but it hasn’t been easy, people in Netanyhu’s orbit told Axios.
“Every time we thought we managed to put this behind us, we discovered that it didn’t work and that Trump was still angry,” an aide to Netanyahu told Axios.
After Netanyahu offered his congratulations to Biden for his presidential victory, Trump in a 2021 interview accused Netanyahu of being disloyal and not doing enough to help the U.S. in assassinating top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani the year prior. Trump also felt that Netanyahu wasn’t serious about resolving the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Trump said he felt betrayed because he knew Netanyahu on a personal level and worked hard to support Israel during his tenure.
“[Netanyahu] was very early — like, earlier than most,” Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid in 2021, referring to Netanyahu’s congratulatory phone call to Biden. “I haven’t spoken to him since. Fuck him.”
Since then, Netanyahu’s team has spent years trying to make amends with Trump, meeting with the former president’s team on at least four separate times aides of the prime minister told Axios. On one occasion, aides hand-delivered a copy of Netanyahu’s book to Mar-a-Lago and read passages favoring Trump, but that seemingly failed to win them over.
But the tides may have turned in Netanyahu’s favor this week, aides told Axios. After an assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday, Netanyahu issued condolences in a video message, which was sent directly to Trump’s team.
Like all Israelis, my wife Sara and I were shocked by the horrific assassination attempt on the life of President Donald Trump.
This wasn’t just an attack on Donald Trump. This was an attack on a candidate for the presidency of the United States. This was an attack on America.… pic.twitter.com/AzeiL78uNU
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 14, 2024
“Like all Israelis, my wife Sara and I were shocked by the horrific assassination attempt on the life of President Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said in the message.
Netanyahu called Trump “president” rather than “former president” on purpose as a strategic play, aides told Axios. Trump posted Netanyahu’s message on his Truth Social account, which was encouraging to Netanyahu’s aides.
Two aides told Axios they believe that the relationship between Netanyahu and Trump can be mended. One hinted that Elon Musk, who endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt, could serve as a mediator.
Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., next week and deliver an address to Congress. There are no current plans for Netanyahu to meet with Trump during the trip, one aide told Axios.
Featured image credit: (Screen Capture/IsraeliPM)
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