Trump to Netanyahu: “Everybody Hates You, What the Fuck Are You Doing?”

Bibi Netanyahu is really pissed that Hezbollah has discovered a major vulnerability in Israel’s anti-missile defense, leading to the destruction of an Iron Dome battery and the killing of its soldiers in Lebanon.  He responded by warning every resident of the Beirut neighborhood of Dahyieh to evacuate. Presumably as an act of vengeance against Hezbollah, since many of its Shia followers live there.  He clearly planned to level it entirely.

Besides retaliation, Netanyahu had another motive: to torpedo Trump’s Iran ceasefire/peace talks. But Trump said, not so fast.  In fact the language was a bit saltier than that. He unleashed an expletive-filled rant:

President Trump lashed out at…Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon in an expletive-laden call on Monday, two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call told Axios.

…Summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the U.S. official said: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

A second source…said Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the fuck are you doing?”

This exchange followed an angry denunciation of the planned air assaults on the Lebanese capital by Iran, in which it broke off all contacts with the US.  That forced Trump to step in.  Not voluntarily, because he doesn’t care for Lebanon.  Trump professed indifference, while also claiming that talks had not been suspended.

Unsurprisingly, he flatly contradicted the Iranian statement. Since we know he’s a bald-faced opportunistic liar, we know who to believe. The next thing we knew was an announcement that both Hezbollah and Israel had agreed to stop firing on each other:

…Trump claimed that Israeli forces headed toward Beirut have “turned back” and that Hezbollah has agreed that “all shooting will stop” following separate phone calls with representatives from the two warring sides.

You’ll have pardon my skepticism over this claim.  Israel, as I’ve often said here, never met an aggreement it didn’t break.  Netanyahu in particular is the biggest weasel.  He squirms out of every one to which he’s ever agreed.  Undoubtedly, this will be yet another.

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid provided an even starker account:

Trump on Monday hit the brakes on…Netanyahu’s plan to bomb Hezbollah targets in Beirut after Iran threatened to abandon its negotiations with the U.S. over Israel’s actions in Lebanon.  An Israeli official told Axios the planned strikes on Beirut would not be happening… Trump’s decision to rein in Netanyahu was a clear signal that he doesn’t want his key ally to get in the way of a deal with Iran.

When Trump earlier proclaimed a series of peace deals (which never were completed), Netanyahu became apoplectic.  He wanted no deal. Not now. Not ever.  But he couldn’t cross Trump directly. After all, $22-billion in weapons from the US arsenal carries a ton of weight (literally).  But he could chip away at this deal, sabotaging it bit by bit till it was a frayed and tattered remnant.

Thus, Netanyahu ignored the most recent purported ceasefire, and sent his troops even farther into Lebanese territory.  They went as far as the Zahrani River, occupying 30% of the country (as an aside, it just further occupied Gaza, now holding 70% of it). The IDF expelled tens of thousands of Lebanese from their native villages. They emptied entire cities like Tyre and Nabatieh.  They pummeled civilians, murdering them in cold blood.  They destroyed entire villages.  Not for any strategic purpose–except sheer destruction.

Israel also occupied Beaufort Castle, a 900 year-old Crusader fortification. Israel ought to heed the historical example of the fate of the Crusaders.  The medieval conquerors were eventually defeated and returned to their homes in Europe without the prize they’d sought for decades, the Christian holy sites of Jerusalem.  Foreign invaders don’t last in the Middle East.

It’s laughable that the Israeli prime minister justified this aggression by claiming Hezbollah was violating the ceasefire.  In truth, it was Israel which never observed the cessation of hostilities as it never stopped its attacks in the south.  Hezbollah’s attacks were in response to this.  Everyone except Israel understands that when you have a ceasefire, both parties stop fighting.  When only one does it’s no longer a ceasefire.

Netanyahu is the quintessential Humpty-Dumpty:

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

The arrangement, which Trump claimed would end hostilities, is lopsided. Therefore it cannot be successful in the longer–or perhaps even near-term:

The deal…proposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would involve Israel suspending its planned attacks on Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah halting its attacks on Israel.

Israel stops attacking a single Lebanese city, while being permitted to attack everything else in the country. While Hezbollah suspends its assault on northern Israel, which essentially means it will cease fighting.  How is that fair and balanced?

This further emphasizes the one-sided nature of all this talk:

Netanyahu said in a statement that he had told Trump that Israel would attack targets in Beirut if Hezbollah does not stop attacking Israel, and that in the meantime, Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon.

In fact, if/when Israel resumes such attacks, Hezbollah will respond in kind. That’s the way wars go.  You don’t have one side fight by its own rules, and then expect the other to fight by the rules you determine advance your interests.

Trump clearly doesn’t understand the protocol his own staff devised:

Trump also claimed he’d had a “very good call” with “highly placed Representatives” of Hezbollah who agreed “that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

That’s very much not what the Israelis said. I’m not sure whether Trump knows this and is just bluffing, hoping no one will notice the discrepancy; or he doesn’t understand his own deal and is just vacant and stupid.

One of the key Iranian demands for any peace agreement is a full cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and withdrawal of Israeli forces.  Though the US has not specifically accepted this provision, it’s clear it was a red line for Iran.  Now it is reinforcing its importance. Trump’s announcement tacitly acknowledges that Iran controls this aspect of the narrative.  He knew that if he ever wanted a deal, he would have to stop the fighting there.  In effect, the US is dancing to Iran’s tune.  Though Trump would never admit this.

The US president can crow about his success at stopping the fighting. That does not mean Israel will heed him.  It will resume as soon Netanyahu feels he can get away with it.  After all, he has never signed a ceasefire agreement with Iran and never will. Which means there will never be peace or normalization between the two countries.  That in itself is an ongoing tragedy for both peoples, but especially for the Lebanese, who bear the brunt of the suffering.