Israeli President Isaac Herzog described U.S. President Donald Trump as Israel’s “number one friend,” downplaying tensions between the two countries regarding the war in Iran.
“First of all, we have many friends. I believe that President Trump is our No. 1 friend,” Herzog told Jan-Philipp Burgardt of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network on Thursday.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
He added that “we maintain an excellent friendship with the government and with him personally.”
He acknowledged, however, that close relations do not mean there are no disagreements: “We can have disagreements with many of our friends; after all, that’s what democracy is all about.”
Herzog’s statements are in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to emphasize his close ties with Trump, despite disagreements regarding the war in Iran. Netanyahu stated last week at the UN General Assembly that Israel “has no better partner than President Trump.”
However, these public displays of friendship were accompanied by signs of friction. Vice President Jay D. Vance, who privately opposed the war in Iran, stated a few days ago that Washington cannot allow its foreign policy to be “subordinate to the State of Israel.”
But Trump had also called Netanyahu “crazy” during a phone conversation months earlier, Politico notes.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration appeared unusually restrained regarding Britain’s announcement of sanctions against Israeli settlements—sanctions that Herzog strongly criticized.
Source: protothema.gr
