US President Donald Trump on Friday praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an apparent attempt to calm tensions after repeatedly criticizing the Israeli leader in recent days over the IDF’s conduct in Lebanon.

“We fought very well with Israel, and we’ve had a great relationship with Israel,” Trump said in remarks at the unveiling of a new Air Force One plane that was gifted to the United States by Qatar.

Reviewing the recent war against Iran, Trump touted Washington’s Gulf allies for “fighting with us” as well as “warrior prime minister” Netanyahu.

“They should give him credit,” Trump said of Netanyahu. “We really fought hard with Israel.”

The US agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with Iran this week to permanently end the war between them and launch 60 days of talks — an agreement that has sparked alarm in Jerusalem.

The deal mandates a ceasefire in Lebanon, and Iran has demanded that Israel withdraw, but Israel has vowed to keep its troops in a buffer zone in the country’s south to protect border towns from Hezbollah rocket and drone fire. Israel has insisted that it is not beholden to the MOU and that it will not pull its troops out of southern Lebanon, a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Friday, arguing that the buffer zone is necessary to protect citizens in the north from Hezbollah attacks.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon. But the renewed truce appeared as fragile as ever.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter wrote on X. “If Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.”

It’s unclear if or for how long Iran will accept the deal, given that the issue wasn’t just Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah but also the IDF’s presence in southern Lebanon that Tehran has argued violates the MOU, which stipulates “an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Trump says he’s prepared to resume bombing Iran if the talks don’t advance, but in the same breath admits that he’d rather not restart the war because that would lead Tehran to again........

© The Times of Israel