In an interview with The Daily Caller, quoted by Fox News, Donald Trump said that due to the rallies of left-wing American politicians against Israel and the growing unpopularity of its war in Gaza, the country is losing influence, writes News.bg.
“Israel, you would understand this very well, Israel was the most powerful lobby that I have ever seen. They had complete control of Congress, and now they don't, you know, I'm a little surprised to see this“, he said.
Trump, who was a strong ally of Israel during his presidency, defended Israel's war against “Hamas“ in Gaza, but stressed that he had watched how it had damaged the country's global image.
“So they're going to have to end this war. It's hurting Israel. There's no question about it. They may win the war, but they're not winning the PR world, you know, and that's hurting them.“
He said criticism of Israel has never been as widespread as it is today. Senior Democratic members of Congress, including Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, have condemned the war in Gaza and accused Israel of killing innocent Palestinians.
Nevertheless, Trump expressed his strong support for Israel:
“Israel is incredible because, you know, I have good support from Israel. I do. Look, nobody has done more for Israel than me, including the recent attacks with Iran, destroying this thing.“
He accused Israel's critics of forgetting the “Hamas“ attack of October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 people:
“And people, they forgot about October 7. You know, October 7 was a really terrible day, because I've seen the pictures.“
The former president added that some people deny the event itself, as well as the Holocaust:
“And you know, you have people who deny that this ever happened, they're denialists. You have people who deny that the Holocaust ever happened.“
Meanwhile, Israel is facing charges of committing genocide in Gaza before the UN International Court of Justice. Separately, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant. An arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, but it was withdrawn after his death.
On Monday, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars supported a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of a crime.
Of the 500 members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), 28% participated in the vote. Of these, 86% supported the resolution. It stressed that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).”