President Donald Trump fumed “He’s f***ing me” in a conversation about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched airstrikes on US ally Qatar earlier this month, according to a report.
The US president has remained firm in his support for Israel’s military action in Gaza, but was said to be furious after Mr Netanyahu authorised strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In the aftermath of the strikes, Trump said he was “not happy” with Israel and that the operation “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”.
But sources told the WSJ that Trump flew into a rage on receiving news of the strikes, and told close aides, including US secretary of state Marco Rubio: “Netanyahu is f***ing me.”
Previous reports suggested that the US president had rebuked Mr Netanyahu and complained that he had not been informed of the plan to hit Doha. He is said to have called the Israeli PM following the strikes to ask if they had been a success, and to have been unhappy on being told that they had not.
The prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said in response to the attacks: “The time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed.”
Ahead of Mr Rubio’s state visit to Israel, Mr Trump had urged the Israeli leader to act with caution, saying: “My message is that they have to be very, very careful. They have to do something about Hamas, but Qatar has been a great ally to the United States.”
But recent evidence suggests that Mr Netanyahu has not heeded Mr Trump’s warnings, and that Israel has become increasingly belligerent about striking countries in the Middle East, including Washington’s allies.
“I’m mystified and so are many other Israelis,” Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the US, told the WSJ after the strikes. “The only thing that’s really working for [Netanyahu] is Trump’s support.”
“Netanyahu knows that while the White House may grumble a bit, there really is no downside to an ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ approach,” said Damian Murphy, a former staff director for the Democrats on the Senate foreign relations committee.
The Independent has contacted the White House and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Mr Netanyahu told Mr Rubio during his state visit that the relationship between their respective countries was “as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched” as the pair wrote prayers on pieces of paper and placed them between the bricks.
The US president emphasised his commitment to Israel and its military campaign during a state visit to the UK. He backslapped Sir Keir Starmer as the British prime minister said that Hamas must have “no future” in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu is subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court and has been criticised by international leaders, human rights groups, and the United Nations, which recently concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel vehemently denies the claims.
