Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Tuesday responded to an Axios report that alleged President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalations in Lebanon, saying that it was “all talk” and pointing out that the US could withhold military aid if it actually wanted to see an end to Israel’s wars.
“It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors – instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon,” Massie wrote on X. “Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers.”
According to a source speaking to Axios, Trump told Netanyahu, “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Axios had published multiple accounts of similar rifts between President Biden and Netanyahu as the Biden administration continued supporting Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
After the call with Netanyahu on Monday, Trump said in two separate posts on Truth Social that there was an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but Israeli attacks continued on Tuesday. Israel did hold off on threatened strikes on Beirut, though an Israeli official had told Ynet earlier on Monday that the threat was coordinated with the US.
Massie also took aim at Netanyahu in a post on X on Tuesday, saying that the more the Israeli leader “prevents the war with Iran from ending, the more obvious it becomes that he convinced Trump to start it.”
Massie, virtually the only Republican in Congress who consistently opposes military aid to Israel, recently lost his primary to a Trump-backed candidate in a race that became the most expensive House primary in US history, fueled by spending from pro-Israel groups and donors.
