JERUSALEM, Israel – Iran and the U.S. keep firing missiles, yet President Trump says a peace deal could come as soon as this weekend. And although they’ve argued over the phone, both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insist their relationship is fine and peace could also come in war-torn Lebanon.
The president claimed the ceasefire with Iran is still on despite Tehran’s military strikes against the U.S. and its Gulf allies, but he joked that it’s because the Middle East has a different definition of ceasefire.
“In that part of the world, ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner,” Trump declared. “That’s not bad.”
He added that he’s not worried about the chances for an ultimate peace deal with the Tehran regime. “It might not happen,” he speculated. “Who knows? But if it happens, it could happen, like, over the weekend.”
However, the fighting continues, almost non-stop, between Israel and Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Iran is demanding that the combat there cease as part of any overall peace deal.
Trump admitted on the podcast Pod Force One that he spoke sharply to Netanyahu about the ongoing war. “I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon,” he recalled. “At some point, I said, ‘Bibi, we’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to stop it.’ But I have a very good relationship. We’ve done well…done well together.”
Netanyahu told CNBC that his argument with Trump wasn’t as bad as previous conversations. “If you think this is a crisis, you should be in some other conversations,” he stated.
The prime minister believes the president realizes that Hezbollah is the reason for the fighting and that the terror group must eventually be disarmed.
“He understands that Lebanon has been taken hostage by Hezbollah. It’s basically taken over the country. It’s an Iranian proxy that puts all the citizens of Lebanon at gunpoint and uses Lebanon as a platform to launch terror missiles into our cities, Netanyahu stated.
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In Washington, unprecedented talks between Israel and Lebanon have led to an agreement to ban Hezbollah from parts of southern Lebanon near Israel and eventually disarm the Shiite military force.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, who was part of the talks, said, “And now, we’re going to work together to rid the country of this Iranian proxy on Israel’s border.”
However, that may have little effect on the actual war since Hezbollah hasn’t agreed to stop fighting, to disarm, or to move any of its forces.
Meanwhile, congressional votes indicate growing unpopularity with the Iran war in America. Both the Republican-led House and Senate have now voted to curb Trump’s war powers in the coming days.
It’s doubtful that such votes will have much effect, since Trump is likely to ignore any attempt by Congress to limit his authority as commander-in-chief.
