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'Hezbollah is very smart,' Donald Trump praises Hezbollah's acumen, cites strong Israel prep if he was the President
Trump slams Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for not being prepared for Hamas incursion
Former President Donald Trump criticized Hezbollah, the Biden administration, and Israeli officials in his remarks on Wednesday, after the Lebanese-based terror group launched missiles at Israeli troops. Trump also claimed that Hamas would not have attacked Israel if he was still in the White House.
Trump spoke to a crowd in West Palm Beach, Fla., and blamed the Israeli and US government officials for revealing the weaknesses of Israel, which he said provoked Hezbollah’s attack. He said he read that Biden’s national security team hoped that Hezbollah would not attack from the north, which is Israel’s most vulnerable spot.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart,” Trump said. He also said that an Israeli defense official made the same mistake by saying the same thing on television.
“So the following morning, they attacked,” the former President 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,” he added. “Whoever heard of officials saying on television that they hope the enemy doesn’t attack in a certain area?”
The Israeli military confirmed that Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position on Wednesday, but did not comment on possible casualties. Hezbollah claims to have killed and wounded Israeli troops in the attack.
In a clip of an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that will air on Thursday, Trump also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he was not prepared for Saturday’s incursion by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, which killed hundreds of civilians, including women, children and the elderly.
“We have to protect Israel, there’s no choice,” Trump stated.
“And why do we have to do it? [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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 suggested that if he was president, the US would have detected and prevented the terrorist attack in Israel.
“And under Trump, they wouldn’t have had to be prepared,” he said. At the Florida rally, Trump promised to “stand with Israel 100%” and “not let them fail” if he becomes president again, but also shared “a bad experience” he had with Israel’s leadership when he was in office.
He said that when he ordered the US airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in January 2020, Israel was supposed to participate in the attack with the US, but backed out at the last minute.
“He was a very bad guy, very smart guy, but a very bad guy,” Trump said of Soleimani.
“And Israel was going to do this with us and it was being planned and working on it for months and now we had everything all set to go. And the night before it happened. I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack,” Trump claimed, saying that it might be a classified story.
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Trump said he did not know why Israel allegedly changed its mind and called Netanyahu’s alleged decision “a terrible thing.”
"I'll never forget – I'll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down," Trump expressed. "That was a very terrible thing."
"And then Bibi tried to take credit for it. That was it. That didn't make me feel too good, but that's all right," he lamented.
The former president added that Israel must "strengthen themselves up" and "step up their game" militarily.
The comments sparked criticism from one of his 2024 GOP presidential primary rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as 'very smart,'" DeSantis tweeted.
"As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are," he added.
