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Trump criticizes Biden’s Israel policy, says president ‘dumped’ Netanyahu

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

Former President Trump criticized President Biden for his Israel policy in an interview set to air Sunday.

“And all of a sudden, he dumped Israel, that’s what he’s doing, he dumped Israel,” Trump said in reference to Biden on Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” with host Howard Kurtz. “He just said, essentially, that Bibi Netanyahu should take a walk.”

Biden, who has been facing pressure from the left wing of his party to support a permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza, said he has called on Israel to “do its part” to let more aid into the territory and allow additional border openings in his recent State of the Union address.

Biden was caught on a hot mic following the recent address telling Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they need to have a “come-to-Jesus meeting.”

Biden also recently suggested that Netanyahu’s policies in relation to the war in Gaza have been “hurting Israel more than helping Israel.”

“What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

“In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Biden added. “It’s contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it’s a big mistake.”

In the interview with Kurtz, Trump also reacted negatively to comments recently made by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) in which he called for new elections in Israel and said that Netanyahu has “lost his way.”

“The Democrats are very bad for Israel,” Trump said.

In his comments, Schumer also said that “[a]s a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7.”

“The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer continued.