IN BRIEFDonald Trump said Israel's fight against Hezbollah is taking "too long" and has too many casualties.Israel's latest attack on Lebanon could threaten a tentative peace deal between the US and Iran set to be signed on Friday.Once the "greatest" friends", US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Israel over Hezbollah, signalling a rift between the leaders.On Tuesday, Trump suggested to Israel that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa should deal with Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia as the Israeli campaign was causing too many casualties.Speaking at the G7 summit in France, Trump said Sharaa is doing an "amazing job"."If Israel can't do the job [against Hezbollah] without killing everyone else, then he [Sharaa] will do the job. Syria will do the job," he continued.Sharaa "is very good with Hezbollah, does not like them", Trump said, adding that the Syrian leader, an ex-jihadist who came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, is "no boy scout".News that makes senseYour trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.Israel "is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed," he said."I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah as, to be honest with you, I think they would do a better job," said Trump.Following reports that his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in decline, Trump said "Bibi [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon"."I am not happy with the way Israel had handled themselves with Lebanon and Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster," he said.The tension comes as Trump criticises recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which threatened to jeopardise negotiations between the US and Iran. Trump has been pushing for a deal as he faces political blowback at home, where the war is unpopular and has driven up petrol prices."If Netanyahu gets in between something Trump really wants, and that’s out of this war, he’s prepared to use the leverage that he has," said Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations over two decades.An agreement is scheduled to be signed on Friday in Geneva. Trump told the G7 Summit Netanyahu was aware he is unhappy with Israel's recent moves."Without the US, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did," Trump said."I have had a great relationship with Bibi. Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon."There has long been a bipartisan consensus around supporting Israel in Washington, but that has frayed recently.Some Americans have become increasingly outraged by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, especially during the war in Gaza, and conservatives have questioned the importance of longstanding US support for Israel — many have concerns about antisemitism.Trump’s latest comments drew swift criticism from left-leaning groups."He is framing Israel’s mere existence as contingent on him," said Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America. "It’s deeply offensive to the vast majority of Jews who care about Israel’s future."Former US president Joe Biden and and former vice president Kamala Harris often disagreed with Netanyahu during the war in Gaza, and sometimes criticised him publicly. However, they were more circumspect to avoid facing accusations of being anti-Israel.Conservative, pro-Israel groups were divided on the seriousness of Trump’s public condemnation of Netanyahu.Republican Jewish Coalition president Matt Brooks described Trump’s criticism as little more than the inevitable disagreement among family members.Brooks dismissed that any muted criticism of Trump’s comments from his party represented a mixed political message because Trump has been reliably supportive of Israel as president."If Biden or Harris said something critical, it came from the position of someone who was hostile toward or didn’t have the same level of support for Israel that President Trump has," Brooks said.He noted the first Trump administration’s role in moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza during the president’s second term, among other acts.Biden had criticised Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, though Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu comes with a "tremendous reservoir of goodwill on this issue that neither Biden nor Harris ever had".Pro-Israel advocate Mort Klein said Trump should have kept the comments private, especially in light of his public praise over the years of authoritarian leaders in Türkiye, North Korea and China.Klein, president of the conservative Zionist Organisation of America, said he worried that Trump was making the comments in public to appeal to Israel critics "because he sees that Americans have become more hostile toward Israel than they’ve ever been"."That worries me."For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.