Speaking to UK journalist Piers Morgan during his London visit over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed former U.S. President Donald Trump for having dinner with controversial rapper Kanye West and antisemite Nick Fuentes, which he called a “big mistake".
Trump met with West and Fuentes back in November 2022 for a private dinner and was reprimanded by Netanyahu at the time as well.
“I think it’s a big mistake. It’s wrong from every point of view,” Netanyahu said. “[Antisemitism] should not be countenanced, it should not be accepted, it should be rebuked and condemned and that’s what I do. And I don’t care where it comes from, or from whom.”
During the interview, Netanyahu also addressed Trump slamming him for congratulating U.S. President Joe Biden after his 2020 election win.
“The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with. … Bibi could have stayed quiet. He made a terrible mistake. I haven’t spoken to him since. F—k him,” Trump said at the time.
In addition, Netanyahu also mentioned during the interview that Trump was considered a great ally of Israel during his time in office.
“He moved the embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Jerusalem as our capital. Recognized our sovereignty in the Golan Heights and went out of the disastrous Iran Deal, the nuclear deal that would have paved Iran’s path to go to nuclear weapons. So yes, I appreciated it,” Netanyahu explained.
“I don’t align myself with anyone. I didn’t come in as a Republican or Democrat, I came in as an Israeli. And I have close friends among both sides of the aisle. Joe Biden, with whom I often disagree, by the way, I sometimes disagreed with Trump, too.”
Morgan challenged Netanyahu with a new poll showing that young people in the U.S. aged 18-29 are now showing greater support towards Palestinians than to Israel for the first time ever.
“America is changing vis-à-vis America,” Netanyahu responded. “And therefore, is changing vis-à-vis Israel. But I think the main bulk of the American public across the wide birth of the political spectrum support Israel because they see Israel as representing the values.”
During the interview, Netanyahu also said that he recently spoke with Biden, who warned him about worries in the U.S. government about dangers to Israel’s democracy.
“Well, first of all, we spoke about Iran security. A lot. But he raised that [concerns over the threat to Israel’s democracy] and I assured him what I assured you: that Israel was, is and will remain a democracy.”