Former President Donald Trump, who for months has urged Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip as quickly as possible, said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel remained on good terms after the two met Friday, and that he would be a stronger ally of Israel than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Netanyahu and Trump, who met in Palm Beach, Florida, were close allies during Trump’s presidency, but their ties became strained after the 2020 election. Asked by a reporter after their meeting if the two would have to rebuild their ties if he won in November, Trump said, “We don’t have to; we’ve had a good relationship.”
The former president and Republican nominee greeted the Israeli leader warmly at his Mar-a-Lago estate and called his presumptive opponent, Harris, “radical” and not “very nice” to Israel. Even so, Netanyahu faces growing international criticism and pressure over Israel’s war effort, and his trip to shore up support fought against strong headwinds.
Trump, in a Fox News interview Thursday, said of the war in Gaza: “It can’t continue to go on like this. It’s too long. It’s too much.” Harris and President Joe Biden met with Netanyahu on Thursday, and pressed, as they have for months, for a cease-fire that would provide for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Harris said after her meeting that she had voiced to the prime minister her “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security and “my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.”
And on Friday, the leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand called for an urgent cease-fire, saying that “the situation in Gaza is catastrophic.” In a joint statement, Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia, Justin Trudeau of Canada and Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said: “The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.”
Israel’s allies, including the United States, have stated repeatedly that Israel has a right to defend itself and to retaliate for the Hamas-led assault Oct. 7, while growing increasingly critical of the devastation and casualties created by the Israeli response. Almost 40,000 people in Gaza have been killed and 90,000 others wounded, according to health authorities there.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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