Israeli official slams Trump over his criticism of Netanyahu: ‘Shameful’

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi slammed former President Donald Trump over his recent remarks praising terror group Hezbollah and criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“Shameful that a man like that, a former US president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel’s fighters and its citizens,” Karhi reportedly told Israel’s Channel 13 on Thursday. 

Trump, 77, blamed Israeli and US government officials Wednesday for a missile attack launched from Lebanon on Israel by Iranian-backed Hezbollah jihadists, accusing defense authorities of telegraphing the weaknesses of the Jewish state.  

“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot,’” Trump said during a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart.”

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, then claimed that Israeli defense officials made the same mistake.     

“They have a national defense minister or somebody saying, ‘I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack us from the north.’ So the following morning, they attacked,” Trump said. 

“They might not have been doing it, but if you listen to this jerk, you would attack from the north, because he said, ‘That’s our weak spot,’” the former president added. “Whoever heard of officials saying on television that they hope the enemy doesn’t attack in a certain area?” 

The Hezbollah sortie came days after Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,300 people. 

Karhi, a member of Israel’s Knesset and the Likud Party, added, “We don’t have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts.”

When asked if Trump cannot be relied on anymore by Israel, Karhi responded, “Obviously.”

The former president also accused Netanyahu and Israel of not being prepared for the terrorist attack by Hamas, during an interview on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show” that airedThursday. 

“We have to protect Israel, there’s no choice,” Trump said. “And why do we have to do it? [Netanyahu] has been hurt very badly because of what’s happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”

Trump went on to suggest that if he were president, the US would have detected and prevented the terrorist attack in Israel.