'No f**king judgment': Trump blasts Netanyahu for Lebanon strike

[0:00] The president very frustrated with how the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been responding to [0:04] this, continuing to launch strikes in Lebanon right before this agreement was signed. You [0:11] mentioned what he told Axios, but he also said this to the New York Times. He described Netanyahu [0:16] to the New York Times as a very difficult guy and went on to say, to be honest with you, [0:20] he should be very thankful to us for doing this because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, [0:25] Israel wouldn't be around for two hours. That was a direct quote from the president. I think that [0:30] just goes to show how tense this relationship between the U.S. and Israel is at this point, [0:36] the president really not wanting them to threaten this upcoming agreement, John. [0:40] Now, again, when we get that text, it'll be interesting to see domestically and around the [0:45] world how it is received. Elena Trin in Geneva this morning, thank you very much. Kate. [0:50] Let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is the Axios global affairs correspondent and CNN [0:54] political and global affairs analyst, Barack Ravid. And it's your interview that really set things [0:59] over the weekend on fire with what President Trump told you. And one person not heard from yet publicly, [1:05] it does appear, is who we were just talking about, Benjamin Netanyahu himself. And after that [1:10] extraordinary interview that you had with the president this weekend, Barack, what are you hearing [1:15] today? Well, I think Netanyahu, his people and his mouthpieces in the Israeli media are all furious [1:28] about this deal. The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechia Leiter, has been making phone [1:36] calls to members of Congress, telling them how much Netanyahu is concerned and disappointed [1:42] about this deal. One of Netanyahu's key mouthpieces in the Israeli press, a guy called Inon Magal, [1:51] wrote on X a, you know, super strong post where he called the U.S. negotiators, Steve Witkoff [2:02] and Jared Kushner, Jew boys. He called Vice President Vance scum. He said they're working for Qatar [2:11] and the other Gulf countries. So when somebody that close to Netanyahu writes those things on X, [2:18] I think it gives some sort of an impression about how Netanyahu and his close circle, [2:26] what they think about this deal. And the Lebanon front, I think it appears is going to be more and [2:36] more critical to how long this framework exists and stays in place if they're going to continue [2:44] negotiations about the long-term future and stopping any long-term future of a nuclear program. [2:50] Israel's defense minister said this morning that it is not, they are not withdrawing from southern [2:56] Lebanon. So what is going to happen here? What are you hearing behind the scenes? [3:01] So first, I have no information that points to any demand by the United States, at the moment at least, [3:15] for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. What I heard from U.S. officials is that [3:21] basically in Lebanon they're talking about a ceasefire, which means everyone holding place, [3:26] no military action, neither by Hezbollah nor by Israel. And from what I heard from regional mediators [3:37] that in the talks between the U.S. and Iran through the mediators over the weekend, the point the U.S. made [3:47] is you, Iran, make sure Hezbollah doesn't shoot and we'll make sure Israel doesn't shoot. But the thing is [3:56] that the Iranians don't feel that Trump really has a way to make sure that the Israelis don't take [4:05] military action in Lebanon. I think this is why that's going to be a main sticking point in the [4:11] implementation of this deal. And also next week on June 22nd, there's supposed to be another round of [4:20] direct negotiations at the State Department between Lebanese and Israeli officials. The U.S. wants a deal [4:27] between Israel and Lebanon, not through Iran, but through direct Israeli-Lebanese talks. And I just wonder if the [4:34] Israeli government will be open enough to actually have good faith negotiations when it is so mad about the current deal. [4:41] Yeah. I mean, as Aaron David Miller had put it, I know you'd send it out. No, no U.S. president has said publicly about an Israeli prime minister what Trump has said about Netanyahu from what President Trump said to you on the phone of the weekend. [4:56] Multiple times. [4:57] As I read, multiple times. It was not a... [4:59] Multiple times. [5:00] It was not... It was not to be missed, in case you didn't hear me, Barack. [5:04] It was not a war-off. Not a speak of a tongue. Multiple times. [5:07] It definitely was. Great reporting, as always, Barack. Thanks for coming on. [5:11] Well, Israel is making it clear it is not happy with this UN-Iran agreement. We are hearing criticism from politicians of different political camps. And as we've been reporting, Israel's defense chief says the IDF won't be pulling out of Lebanon. [5:28] CNN's Oren Liebman has the view from Jerusalem. And why is it that Israel, seemingly across the board, at least when it comes to government officials, so unhappy with this agreement? [5:41] And do we know where the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stands? [5:47] Well, we don't know publicly because he hasn't made a statement about the ceasefire deal yet or what his intentions are here. [5:57] In fact, the only statement we saw on social media yesterday that had anything to do with President Donald Trump was a happy birthday message that celebrated how closely they're working together. [6:06] And yet, other ministers in the government, even politicians in the opposition, have come out against this deal, [6:12] specifically because of what is expected to be the demands upon Israel as it relates to Lebanon. [6:18] Iran, pretty much from the beginning, has demanded that any ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran include Lebanon and a potential withdrawal of Israeli forces. [6:27] Well, Israel's defense minister said he will not and that Israel will not be withdrawing forces from the territory it occupies in southern Lebanon. [6:35] So, clearly signaling there, and he talked about, by the way, the existing and expected pressure. [6:41] So, there's clearly an expectation that the U.S. will put pressure on them to withdraw. [6:45] The question is, ultimately, how does Benjamin Netanyahu handle this pressure and what are his options? [6:51] Trump has clearly boxed him in at this point. [6:55] Trump, in fact, said just a couple of days ago that Israel should not be attacking anywhere in Lebanon. [7:01] He also said Hezbollah should not attack Israel. [7:03] Well, we've seen him say that in mid-April and that fell apart within a matter of days. [7:08] So, it's clear the Israeli government, ministers, those who are very close to Netanyahu, are very unhappy with this agreement. [7:15] The language they've used, the statements they've put out. [7:18] Netanyahu has been very careful here. [7:20] He has virtually never publicly criticized Trump. [7:23] And at least as of right now, that is still the case, Becky. [7:28] This is an MOU. [7:29] It is effectively a promise to talk at this point. [7:34] Oren, is there a sense that many Israelis in and outside the government actually agree with Mr. Obama? [7:41] This is likely to be just like the old deal, which Israel didn't like the first time around. [7:47] I think that's sort of dawning on the Israeli public and Israeli politicians. [7:55] We've even seen some of the pro-Netanyahu right-wing media start criticizing not only the deal, [8:00] but also President Donald Trump as well, which would have been unthinkable just a few months ago [8:05] or just a few weeks ago during the war. [8:07] And you're exactly right to point out what this is, Becky. [8:11] All this memorandum of understanding is, is an attempt to reset the situation in the Strait of Hormuz [8:16] to what it was before the war. [8:18] There are no promises that we're aware of on the highly enriched uranium or Iran's nuclear program [8:24] or its ballistic missiles or proxies here. [8:26] We need to wait to see what's in the deal. [8:28] And certainly Trump could help us by releasing the text of the MOU. [8:33] But all this really is right now is, is talks about talks as they try to reset the Strait [8:39] of Hormuz to, to what it was before. [8:41] It's also worth pointing out that, that Trump has repeatedly boasted about Iran not having [8:45] a nuclear weapon under his agreement. [8:47] Well, if you look at the, the language of the Iran nuclear deal under former President [8:51] Barack Obama, the JCPOA, that's provision three under the preamble and general provisions [8:56] that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. [8:58] This isn't some new thing that Trump has discovered. [9:01] It is exactly what was in the Obama era nuclear deal. [9:05] When you start looking at all of the different bits and parts, one of the big points that [9:10] may be difficult is what is happening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel in [9:16] all of this. [9:17] There has been reporting on Axios where we just heard from the reporter there, Barack, who [9:23] says, look, multiple times the president cursed about the way in which Netanyahu has been [9:30] dealing with the United States over this conflict. [9:34] What do you make about what will happen if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't stop [9:41] attacking Lebanon, for example? [9:46] So this is something Kim and I have been talking about over the last couple of weeks as well. [9:49] I think, you know, the, the flashpoint in Lebanon is probably one of the biggest risks to the [9:53] agreement outside of getting through some of these details. [9:56] And as, you know, Barack rightly pointed out and you mentioned here, there's been a number [9:59] of tit-for-tat responses that have led to escalations. [10:02] And what happened yesterday in the latest round is a reflection of the discussions I've [10:06] had with Israeli officials. [10:07] The political establishment in Israel would much rather see this war, you know, saw through [10:11] till its end, you know, destroy as much of the military capability as possible. [10:14] They really want regime change. [10:16] But that's not really realistic without boots on the ground. [10:18] So the IDF, the U.S. military, and the political establishment in the U.S. is pretty happy at [10:22] this point with the level of damage that's been done to the Iranians, that they no longer [10:25] pose like a real existential threat to the Israelis or U.S. forces in the region. [10:30] But yesterday, a few drones were launched in northern Israel. [10:33] Prime Minister Netanyahu responded by strikes in the Beirut suburbs, which was seen as a [10:37] red line for Iran. [10:39] The thing that made it difficult is they put the U.S. in a bind. [10:41] The individual they killed was somebody they used to meet with in a prison in Baghdad. [10:44] His name was Ali Moussa Dakhduk. [10:46] One of the founding members of Hezbollah, who was sent to Iraq to help stand up the [10:49] militias during the U.S. war and was actually responsible for an operation that killed and [10:54] kidnapped and executed, execution-style, five U.S. service members. [10:58] So justice made it out yesterday, but also at the risk of blowing up the deal. [11:01] So it put the U.S. in a very difficult position. [11:04] Kim, I do want to get your take on this relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister [11:09] of Israel, and President Trump, which has been a very tight one, but now it's a very tense [11:15] one. [11:16] Where do you see this going? [11:18] Yeah, you know, Netanyahu's got elections coming up, and he has to posture to the Israeli [11:22] people that if hit, he's going to hit back. [11:26] However, there are a couple of things that could tamp down this violence in Lebanon. [11:31] One of them is that Netanyahu needs the U.S. relationship. [11:36] Part of the secret of his success with the Israeli voting public is they know he has a good relationship [11:43] with Trump. [11:44] Trump swears about him, but that's also an indication that they have this very familiar [11:50] friendship. [11:51] They can yell at each other and possibly in a few days with one phone call tamp it all [11:58] back down. [11:59] And on the Hezbollah side, Hezbollah right now is largely run by the Iranian Revolutionary [12:06] Guard Corps. [12:07] So they have a certain amount of command and control over Hezbollah and can tell them to [12:13] lay off. [12:14] That'll be a real sign of whether the IRGC is also backing this deal. [12:19] Yeah, that is actually a really, really good point. [12:21] Both of you, thank you so much for your expertise. [12:23] There is so much to be worked out here.