AFN reported previously on what seems to be a rift growing between Trump and Netanyahu. Trump was quoted on a couple occasions using strong obscenities when referring to Netanyahu, and several outlets have reported him saying the Netanyahu will do whatever he tells him to do.
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, spoke to the Jerusalem News Syndicate and referenced the rhetoric, reports Israel National News.
“I know there's been an enormous level of anxiety about the relationship between the United States and Israel. It's been one of those weeks where we're all reading things and saying, ‘Okay, yeah,’” Huckabee states.
Trump doesn't reserve the foul language, he says, to conversations with Netanyahu.
“But even this afternoon, the president has issued very clear understandings to the Iranians that if they think that the United States is going to fold and collapse… I don't use those words, folks, even in private and certainly not in public,” Huckabee says.
Trump and Netanyahu are old friends, he says, and the only thing stronger than the language between the two is their commitment to each other and the alliance.
“There is no world leader that the president speaks to more than he does Prime Minister Netanyahu. Theirs is a relationship that is deeply personal to the point that there is a candor between them that is probably unlike his relationship with anyone else,” Huckabee states.
Rhetoric aside, he says Trump is committed to the U.S.-Israeli alliance.
“America has an unbreakable bond with the state of Israel, and I trust that he means what he says,” Huckabee says.
Trump’s disagreements with Netanyahu seem to stem from the Iranian peace deal. One of the stipulations in the peace deal includes Israel withdrawing their military forces from Lebanon. Israel is continuing their offensive against Hezbollah in the area as the Iranian-backed group has been striking Israel since the war began.
With the Memorandum of Understanding now signed, Netanyahu held a press conference in which he revealed that he is not aware what was in the deal but avoiding criticizing it, reports The Times of Israel. However, he distanced himself from it, making it clear that it was made by the U.S. and Trump. He mainly focused on Iran not having nuclear missiles with or without this deal.
When asked if Israel lost its “autonomy in strategic decision-making,” he responded on his relationship with Trump works.
“In the U.S., they say that President Trump does everything I ask, and in Israel, they say the opposite, that I do everything he asks. Neither is true. We have a relationship of partners who know each other. Many times, we agree; sometimes we don’t agree. That happens in the best families,” Netanyahu said.
Even if the relationship between the two leaders is still good, that doesn’t change that the opposition to Trump's deal with Iran is widespread among conservatives and prominent U.S. senators.
In a recent “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast episode, the Republican Texas senator said the president has received bad advice, which includes giving billions to Iran.
"Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a very, very bad idea. This deal envisions funneling $300 billion to the ayatollah and the Islamic regime in Iran,” Cruz said.
Furthermore, he says that the U.S. shouldn’t give a penny to the ayatollah. He doesn’t care where the money comes from.
“I don't want a lunatic religious fanatic who chants death to America to receive $300 billion, whether it comes from us or it comes from some other regional partners. I don't care where it comes from,” said Cruz. “Giving people who want to kill you the billions and billions of dollars from any source historically has proven an enormous mistake."
