Trump on Netanyahu moving ahead with his Gaza deal: ‘I said, Bibi, this is your chance for victory. He was fine with it. He has no choice’

US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, and found the Israeli leader surprisingly willing to move ahead with Trump’s plan to end the war, the president tells Axios.

Trump also tells the outlet that Hamas supports the deal.

Trump’s advisers told him before the call that Netanyahu had reservations about the proposal, according to the news site, but Netanyahu agreed to move ahead when they spoke.

“We had great receptivity for our plan — every country of the world in favor,” he tells Axios. “Bibi is in favor. Hamas went a long way — they want to do it. Now we will need to close it.”

“I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” Trump tells Axios. “He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.”

“Bibi took it very far and Israel lost a lot of support in the world,” says Trump, apparently relating to the war in Gaza. “Now I am gonna get all that support back,” he continues.

Trump also praises leading Israeli critic Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “very helpful” in getting Hamas on board. “Erdogan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great,” Trump says.

A US official tells Axios that Trump told the Turkish leader: “I did a lot for you and now I need you to do this.”