The G7 summit in Evian, France, put flaring tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on full display as the U.S. rapidly advances to end the war in Iran. Trump and Netanyahu jointly launched the Feb. 28 strikes on Tehran that began the war but are now on different tracks over how the conflict should end. While at the G7, the president bluntly criticized Israel’s handling of the battle against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, in Lebanon.“Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel,” Trump said Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar. “Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did. I’ve had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”
He also added that he was “not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves,” a likely reference to last weekend’s Israeli attack on a Beirut suburb, which nearly toppled the negotiations between Tehran and the U.S. The Israeli military said the strikes were retaliatory for firing toward northern Israel.
Although the full details of the memorandum of understanding have not been released to the public, the preliminary 60-day ceasefire is expected to include Israel’s withdrawal of forces from Lebanon, which Israel opposes.
