While speaking to journalist Barak Ravid earlier this year, former President Donald Trump did not mince words when discussing Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
Writing in Axios, Ravid quoted Trump as saying, “I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty. The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.”
“He was very early — like, earlier than most. I haven’t spoken to him since. F**k him,” Trump reportedly declared.
“For Bibi Netanyahu, before the ink was even dry, to do a message, and not only a message, to do a tape to Joe Biden talking about their great, great friendship — they didn’t have a friendship, because if they did, [the Obama administration] wouldn’t have done the Iran deal,” Trump said, according to Ravid. “And guess what, now they’re going to do it again.”
Netanyahu, who is no longer Israel’s prime minister, was still serving in that role during Trump’s tenure in office.
While in the White House, Trump made the historic move to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
In another article on Axios, Ravid noted that Netanyahu had issued a statement defending his decision to congratulate Biden.
“I highly appreciate President Trump’s big contribution to Israel and its security. I also appreciate the importance of the strong alliance between Israel and the U.S. and therefore it was important for me to congratulate the incoming President,” Netanyahu said in the statement.