Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that he had a difficult conversation with US President Donald Trump a few days ago, but downplayed the tension between the two and stressed that they agree on "the main things", the Times of Israel quoted him as saying.
The interview was broadcast live hours after Trump confirmed media reports that he had called Netanyahu "crazy" during a phone call on Monday, expressing concern about the escalation of fighting in Lebanon linked to the Israeli government's actions.
"I'm not going to go into the details of our conversations," Netanyahu told CNBC.
"We've had thousands, well, a lot of them," he said. "And if you think this is a crisis, you have to engage in other conversations. But we've always found a way."
Netanyahu stressed that he and Trump have an "excellent relationship" and shared goals, including limiting the Iranian threat to Israel, the region and the world.
"We have shared goals. Sometimes, like in the best families, we have these tactical disagreements," he said. "We always find a way to resolve them. And we do it as good friends. We can disagree in the morning, and by the afternoon we have common action. He respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to resolve our differences.”
Regarding allegations that Trump told him that “he would be in prison if it weren’t for me,” Netanyahu responded: “I won’t go into detail, but he was very clear about the absurdity of this sham trial that I’m going through.”
Trump has repeatedly called on Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, who faces a lengthy corruption trial. However, Herzog said he could not grant a pardon and offered dialogue on a possible plea deal.
Netanyahu also said he and Trump agreed on the need to disarm Hezbollah in order to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon.
"Hezbollah is an Iranian puppet that puts all the citizens of Lebanon at gunpoint and uses Lebanon as a platform to launch terrorist missiles into our cities, to launch killer drones against our civilians," he said.
"So if we want to save Lebanon, if we want to achieve peace between Lebanon and Israel, as I want, we must disarm Hezbollah and demilitarize Lebanon," he added.
Regarding the Iranian attacks on Kuwait on Wednesday morning, which killed one person and wounded others, Netanyahu said Iran was "playing with fire." "Iran certainly knows what the president said, that if necessary, there will be a full-scale return to military action," Netanyahu said. "You know, this is the president's decision. Israel is ready, and American forces are ready," he said. "I think Iran should take that into account. I think they are taking that into account, but they are playing with fire, that's clear." Netanyahu has been giving regular interviews to international media outlets since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, largely limiting his appearances in Israeli media to those perceived as favorable to him.