U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be "more responsible" on Lebanon and criticized the scale of Israeli military operations against the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah.
Speaking to reporters in France, where he is attending G-7 meetings, Trump said, "I've had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon."
"I would say, of all countries, they've been treated the worst, and they can't defend themselves," Trump said of Lebanon. "And they have Hezbollah, which is a problem for them, so no, I'm not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah."
Trump also underscored U.S. support for Israel. "Without the U.S., there’d be no Israel," Trump said, adding that the country "would have been blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved."
"Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did," he said.
