Utolsó frissítés: 2026.06.04. — Szerző: Anti-Propaganda News Blog
The US president admits he had harsh words for Netanyahu over the attacks on Lebanon, but said he „likes” the Israeli leader.
Publication Date: June 3, 2026.
Benjamin Netanyahu has downplayed reports of heightened tensions with Donald Trump after the US president confirmed he recently called the Israeli prime minister a "f*cking crazy".
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected the suggestion that his relationship with Trump had changed: „No, it’s a great relationship because he is the greatest friend of Israel to ever sit in the White House.”
Netanyahu - who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes in Gaza - added that the two leaders have mutual respect for each other.
„We have common goals. Sometimes, like in the best families, we have tactical disagreements,” he said. „We always find a way to resolve them, and we do it as great friends. We may not agree in the morning, but by the afternoon we are acting together.”
The comments came after Trump told the New York Post that he had rebuked Netanyahu in a phone call earlier this week over Israel's escalation in Lebanon.
„I was a little concerned that he was constantly fighting with Lebanon,” Trump said.
Israel's attacks on Lebanon, including the announcement that the Israeli military would bomb the capital, Beirut, risked derailing talks between the US and Iran, with Tehran hinting that it could respond militarily to Israel's offensive against Lebanon.
Trump said on Monday that he had spoken to Netanyahu and a Hezbollah representative and that both sides had agreed to a ceasefire. But fighting continued in southern Lebanon, where Israel has forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and razed entire towns.
The Israeli army, however, suspended its attacks on Beirut.
Despite the apparent disagreement over Lebanon, Trump praised the Israeli prime minister on Wednesday, saying he „works well” with him.
„I really like Bibi,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
For his part, Netanyahu stressed that he and Trump are on the same side on the issue of Lebanon and that their common goal is to disarm Hezbollah.
„I think you understand that Lebanon has been held hostage by Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran, has said it is fighting Israel's efforts to expand Lebanon and ethnically cleanse the country's south. The Lebanese group argues that its fight is legitimate under the UN Charter, which guarantees the right of states and individuals to self-defense.
After Israel and the US attacked Iran without direct provocation on February 28, the fighting spread to Lebanon. Two days after the conflict erupted, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to daily Israeli ceasefire violations and the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Since the beginning of the regional war, several Israeli politicians have openly called for the indefinite occupation of southern Lebanon and the construction of settlements (settler villages) there.
In March, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined a plan to occupy the southern part of the country, preventing hundreds of thousands of residents from returning home. Katz also stated that he had ordered „the acceleration of the demolition of Lebanese homes in villages along the front lines,” acknowledging that the policy followed the model of the destruction of Rafah and Beit Hanoon in Gaza.
However, Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he wants „peace” with Lebanon.
„If we want to save Lebanon and if we want to achieve Lebanese-Israeli peace, as I do, we must disarm Hezbollah and demilitarize Lebanon,” the Israeli prime minister said. „I know that this is a goal that the president and I share.”
Demilitarization of the entire country appears to be a new Israeli demand, which would require preventing the Lebanese Armed Forces from acquiring weapons that could pose a threat to Israel.
Since April, Lebanese and Israeli officials have held several rounds of talks in the United States, but the talks have so far failed to lead to a ceasefire or halt Israel's systematic destruction of Lebanese cities.
