Netanyahu aides said to see hope of mending fences with Trump after assassination attempt
PM was quick to condemn the shooting; Trump later reposted his video. Netanyahu allies have met four times with former US president since PM congratulated Biden on election win
Aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are optimistic that some progress has been made in his yearslong effort to re-ingratiate himself with Donald Trump, after the former president reposted Netanyahu’s video condemning Saturday’s assassination attempt, according to a Wednesday report.
Though Trump has said he still likes Netanyahu personally, he used an expletive to express his disappointment with the premier for congratulating Joe Biden on winning the 2020 US presidential election. Trump continues to deny the vote result.
Trump also claimed that Netanyahu was not serious about peace with Palestinians, for which the former president made a push while in office. In addition, Trump accused Netanyahu of failing to cooperate with the 2020 assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, which the US president had ordered.
Axios cited a former Trump adviser as saying that some of the former president’s concerns about Netanyahu have to do with failures leading up to October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. The news site noted that throughout the war, Trump has expressed support for Israel, but not for Netanyahu.
The premier is reportedly concerned that should Trump win a second term in November, the two will not have the close working relationship they enjoyed during Trump’s first term. Before the assassination attempt, a former Trump administration official told Axios that if Trump won a second term, Netanyahu would not be invited to the White House as quickly as he was during the former president’s first term.
In the past three years, according to Axios, Netanyahu’s allies have met with Trump at least four times in an effort to mend ties. An aide of the premier’s told the site that one associate visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida with Netanyahu’s memoir, and read the former US president positive passages about him.
The efforts appeared to fail, with the report quoting a Netanyahu aide as saying, “every time we thought we managed to put this behind us we discovered that it didn’t work and that Trump was still angry.”
Nonetheless, the report said Netanyahu’s inner circle was encouraged when Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, a video forwarded to him by Netanyahu’s aides, in which the premier condemned Saturday’s assassination attempt.
The former president’s right ear was grazed when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One spectator was killed and two were critically injured in the attack, and Crooks himself was shot and killed on the spot by a US Secret Service sniper.
Netanyahu swiftly condemned the shooting, which took place shortly after 1 a.m. in Israel, being one of the first world leaders to do so. He repeated the condemnation later, at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, and again in the video posted to X in the late afternoon.
“Like all Israelis, my wife Sara and I were shocked by the horrific assassination attempt on the life of President Donald Trump,” said Netanyahu in the video, decrying the “attack on democracy.”
Donald Trump Truth Social 12:15 PM EST 07/16/24 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/MiaKgpQ49s
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 16, 2024
An aide of the premier’s told Axios that Netanyahu had purposely called Trump “president” rather than “former president.”
The news site said that two Netanyahu aides expressed optimism that the premier’s relations with Trump could be mended. One aide reportedly said that X owner Elon Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt, could assist in the matter given his good relations with both men.
Netanyahu is scheduled to speak before a joint session of the US Congress on July 24. An aide of the premier’s was cited as saying that there is currently no plan for Netanyahu to meet Trump while in the US.
