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America and Israel. It's been called the real special relationship. But now this. A furious
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phone call from Donald Trump to Benjamin Netanyahu in which the American president said
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everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this. It's a sign that Benjamin
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Netanyahu, renowned for his ability to charm the US president, is running out of road
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Months of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah has added another obstacle to ending the war
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in Iran, a war Donald Trump is desperate to end. He is the America's first peace president who has
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led the country into another unpopular war in the Middle East, which is draining money
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military assets and political capital. Donald Trump has worked with Israel to strengthen his
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interests abroad, but he is now realising that Israel isn't doing him much good in securing them
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at home. On the 1st of June, Donald Trump received news that Benjamin Netanyahu was going to launch
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invasion of Beirut. He picked up the phone and launched into an expletive-ridden call to the
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Israeli prime minister. Are you f***ing crazy? Trump was reported to have said. Everybody hates you now
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Everybody hates Israel because of this. Is that true? Did you speak to him in those terms? I did
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I would say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon. The fighting
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that has perturbed Trump is a counter-offensive against Hezbollah, which launched attacks on
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Israel's northern border following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war in Iran. But Israel's methods
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have invited controversy, and Lebanon's former health minister believes his country will follow
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the fate of Gaza. Out of 300 towns in southern Lebanon, 150, half of them, have been completely
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razed to the ground. That leaves a population of around 350,000 Lebanese, almost 10% of the
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population who have no place to go back to even if this war is to stop now So clearly what is happening in southern Lebanon is some kind of ethnic cleansing which we saw in Gaza Now it being done in Lebanon And I think this is not only means this is going to be a very prolonged crisis
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but it's also making the Lebanese government very weak and really giving legitimacy to Hezbollah when it says it is resisting foreign occupation
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For some, though, Israel has fallen into a carefully laid trap by Iran to isolate it from allies
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What happened to Hezbollah was always going to be a sticking point in this US-Iran situation, wasn't it
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Yes, because you've had this ring of fire, as it was called, that Iran has funded Hezbollah to the north
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Hamas to the south in Gaza, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen
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And so Iran has done that for a reason. One, to be a sort of buffer zone between Israel and Iran
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but also to keep the pressure up on Israel and to attack Israel
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via these terrorist groups that are intent on the destruction of the state of Israel
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And to tease a response out of Israel, which in Netanyahu's case has been a very big response
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that leaves Israel potentially, anyway, increasingly isolated, which I think it has done
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But none of this helps Donald Trump, who wants to bring an end to the war in Iran
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His approval ratings have reached an historic low, while some estimates put the cost of the Iran war between $40 to $50 billion
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This is before factoring in the rising costs of fuel and groceries for taxpayers
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Despite the spectacle of epic fury launched in February, the war has now reached a stalemate
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with both the US and Iran maintaining naval blockades in the Strait of Hormuz
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Peace talks have gone nowhere, and Israel's attacks on Lebanon have become a red line for Iran
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Donald Trump has never pretended to be liked by everyone, but what he does like to project is an image of strength
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You know Donald Trump came to power as incredibly pro and I think it also partly the suggestion that has taken hold that Donald Trump was sort of played by the Israelis into launching this war against
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Iran without being fully cognizant of the risks involved, what would happen to the Strait of Hormuz
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how easy it would be. And here we are, you know, this all started at the end of February
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and we're now at the beginning of June and Donald Trump is still trying to find an off-ramp
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And I think that that is frustrating him and the idea that it's being said that he was duped by Israel
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is making him very cross and thus we're getting this reporting about him telling Netanyahu where to go
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This isn't the first time Donald Trump has lost his temper with Netanyahu. We have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard
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that they don't know what the f**k they're doing. Do you understand that? That comment came after Israel broke a ceasefire with Iran last year, hours after the US helped broker it
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Israel's decision to scale down its attacks following this outburst could have been spun as a diplomatic victory for the White House
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But since then, Israel has launched a war against Iran with the US by its side
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So what reason does anyone in the White House have to believe that Netanyahu will listen to the president now
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The Israelis have to take notice of that because you don't want to be, you know, what are the consequences
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You've got to think that through. You can't just say, oh, screw you, Donald
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But the elections in Israel are due in October. Late October. Netanyahu, the great survivor, clearly wants to win again
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Isn't his... the biggest playing card he has, I'm going to finish them all off
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I'm going to finish off Hamas. I'm going to take extra land in Gaza to do that
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I'm going to finish off Hezbollah. Is this all bloviating tough talk
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I just think we've seen the experience. And you know there not much left standing in Gaza after you know since October the 7th And the Israeli response to what was an And Hamas still exists and is strong in the West Bank as well And it still armed and any peace deal is going to be fraught with difficulty
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Military action will take you so far, but then you need to have diplomacy as well
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And that is where the sort of, you know, Naftali Bennett, who briefly was Israeli Prime Minister
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and Yael Lapid think that there is an opportunity to beat Netanyahu
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and the great survivor of Israeli politics and world politics may be nearing the end of the road
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According to the latest polls, Netanyahu's Likud party does not command enough support
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to gain a majority in the Neset at the next elections in October. He has lost his image as the protector of Israeli sovereignty
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and is losing ground to Naftali Bennett, the former prime minister and now leader of a coalition of opposition parties
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But according to another former Israeli prime minister, none of this will stop Netanyahu from pursuing a constant state of militarism
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wants war in Lebanon, he wants war in Gaza, and he wants war in Iran. He wants war everywhere
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because he believes that war services his political interests. And this is the only
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thing which really matters for him, unfortunately. And here we have the contradiction that forms the
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basis of the so-called special relationship. On the one side, Trump, who wants peace with Iran
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and a new status quo in the Middle East. On the other, Netanyahu, who sees the destruction of
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Israel's enemies in the region as key to his political survival. The US president has so far
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tried and failed to keep his ally in check. He could accept this if he believed it strengthened
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American power abroad, but now he is realising that Israeli overreach is weakening him at home
