JERUSALEM: Former US president Donald Trump has warned Israel that it was losing support over the Gaza war, reiterating his call to “finish it up”.
The comments from Trump came in an interview published Monday. He is the presumptive Republican nominee to take on President Joe Biden in November’s US election. His comments came as Washington abstained at a United Nations Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
“You have to finish up your war. To finish it up. You gotta get it done,” the former President told the Israel Hayom newspaper in the interview recorded over the weekend.
“And I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up, you have to get the job done.”
President Trump has often referred to himself as a staunch ally of Israel, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and his 2020 push for Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel.
The Palestinians, who claim to have annexed East Jerusalem as their future capital, oppose President Trump’s policies.
The presumptive Republican nominee to contest for the White House in November, Trump has also lashed out at Democratic politicians including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for criticizing Israeli PM Netanyahu.
“I think it’s a terrible thing to do,” Donald Trump said of recent remarks by Schumer calling for early elections in Israel.
