An Israeli government official is denouncing Donald Trump’s praise of the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, calling it “shameful” and saying to proves they cannot rely on him.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Cabinet, “told Israel’s Channel 13 that it was ‘shameful that a man like that, a former U.S. president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel’s fighters and its citizens,'” the Associated Press reports.
“’We don’t have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts,’ Karhi said. Asked if Trump’s comments make it clear that he can’t be relied on, Karhi replied, ‘Obviously.'”
Trump is by far the leading candidate in the race for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination He has often painted himself as Israel’s greatest defender.
But on Wednesday, the ex-president, who is facing 91 criminal felony charges in four indictments across three jurisdictions, “criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called Hezbollah terrorist attackers ‘very smart’ as Israel recovers from the deadliest attack it has suffered in 50 years,” The Washington Post reports.
“You know, Hezbollah is very smart,” Trump said. “They’re all very smart.”
“He has been hurt very badly because of what’s happened here,” Trump also said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. “He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”
The White House also criticized the former president over his pro-terrorist remarks.
“We don’t comment on 2024. Statements like this are dangerous and unhinged,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates in a statement Thursday. “It’s completely lost on us why any American would ever praise an Iran-backed terrorist organization as ‘smart.’ Or have any objection to the United States warning terrorists not to attack Israel. Especially now as Israel is fighting back against one of the worst acts of mass murder in the country’s history. This is a time for all of us to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel against ‘unadulterated evil.’ That’s what the President is doing as commander in chief.”
The Council on Foreign Relations calls Hezbollah an “Iran-backed group … driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East.”
“With its history of carrying out global terrorist attacks,” the CFR adds, “parts of Hezbollah—and in some cases the entire organization—have been designated as a terrorist group by the United States and many other countries.”