Trump: Netanyahu ‘rightly’ criticized on October 7

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Donald Trump thinks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “rightly” criticized for failing to stop Hamas’ murder of Israeli civilians on October 7 and says there are “some very good people” who could take Netanyahu’s job.

In a wide-ranging interview with TIME, Trump harshly criticized Netanyahu, a close ally during the former president’s term. The Israeli prime minister’s support within Israel has waned in recent months, as Israeli voters demand answers about how Israeli intelligence and military forces ignored Hamas’ preparations for a brazen attack that killed nearly 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages back in Gaza.

“Bibi Netanyahu was rightly criticized for what happened on October 7th,” said Trump, speaking to TIME on April 12th at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Polls in Israel show Netanyahu trailing his main political rival, retired Army General Benny Gantz. Gantz, who is a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, called elections in September. That left Netanyahu struggling to win public support to remain in office. Trump also turned against Netanyahu.

“October. 7 should never have happened,” Trump said. “Everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew that, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew that, but Israel didn’t know that, and I think he’s being heavily blamed for that.”

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Trump once touted his close relationship with Netanyahu, who is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. When Trump was president, he delivered on many of Netanyahu’s priorities. Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal with Iran, recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But the relationship soured when Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his 2020 election victory and released a video speech marking Biden’s inauguration. Trump, who continues to falsely deny that Biden was the rightful winner, was reportedly frustrated that Netanyahu did not show him more loyalty.

In the Mar-a-Lago interview, Trump complained about Israel’s withdrawal from the 2020 U.S.-led strike in Iraq that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. “I had a bad experience with Bibi,” Trump told TIME. “And I wasn’t happy about it. That was something I never forgot. And that showed me something.

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Asked if he thought it was time for Netanyahu to leave power and if he could work better with Gantz, Trump demurs. “I think Benny Gantz is good, but I’m not prepared to say that,” Trump said. “I didn’t talk to him about it. But you have some very good people I met in Israel who could do a good job.”