Trump hails 'very good' relations with Israel during meeting with Netanyahu

WASHINGTON

Former President Donald Trump on Friday, ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he has always had "very good" relations with Israel, even "better than any president's ever been."

Recalling his administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the Golan Heights as part of Israel, Trump, who is seeking reelection, told reporters that terminating the Iran nuclear deal was "maybe the best thing" he did for Israel.

"But unfortunately, the Biden administration didn't do anything about it," he said at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. "We would have had a deal with Iran, and everybody would have been happy, but they didn't do anything with it."

The meeting comes one day after the Israeli prime minister met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the US capital of Washington, where he delivered a controversial speech to the US Congress on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Harris said that she expressed concern about the situation in the Gaza Strip to Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House, adding that it is time to get the Gaza cease-fire deal done.

Trump also took aim at the vice president, who is the likely Democratic presidential nominee for the November elections, calling her remarks "disrespectful" to Israel.

"I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren't very nice… I actually don't know how a person who's Jewish can vote for her, but that's up to them," he said.

The former president also warned against "major wars" in the Middle East and potentially a "third world war" if he loses the US presidential election.

"If we win, it'll be very simple. So I'm going to work out it very quickly. If we don't even end up with major wars in the Middle East and maybe a third world war," he said. "You are closer to a third world war right now than at any time since the Second World War".

In response to a question on a potential Gaza cease-fire deal after his trip to the US, Netanyahu responded: "I hope so. I think time will tell. We're certainly eager to have one, and we're working on it."

The prime minister also said that he is dispatching a team to Rome at the beginning of the week for Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap deal talks.

Trump said hostages "have to be given back immediately because there can be no way that they're in good shape".

On May 31, Biden said that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.