With virtually guaranteed antagonism in the already raging Middle East conflict, former US President Donald Trump has launched a war cry to Israel, instructing the nation to go full speed and decisively crush Hamas at all costs.
Bluntly dismissing calls for restraint amid mounting Palestinian civilian casualties, Trump made his stance unequivocally clear in a recent interview:
“You gotta finish the problem. If you don’t finish it, you will hit another issue a couple of years later. You gotta demolish them.”
The inflammatory speeches insisting on an extensive bombardment of Gaza have baffled humanitarian groups and liberal critics. However, it also resonated with Trump’s loyal followers, who have been cheering Israel’s unchecked right to self-defense against terrorist threats like Hamas for a long time.
In comparison with Trump, who, upon leaving office, showered Israel with several pro-settlement policies, from moving the US embassy to Jerusalem to supporting the claim that Israel has sovereignty over the Golan Heights, this cry for complete military dominance is only the latest phase of his notoriously pro-Israel legacy.
Israeli PM Netanyahu welcomes heartily Trump’s openhanded support, which bluntly contradicts President Biden’s balanced approach requiring de-escalation and revival of peace talks aimed at ending the bloody conflict.
Palestinian and Israeli lives are being repeatedly lost, so there is the possibility that Trump’s warmongering may incite a conflict incomprehensible to control. His words contain the spark that may turn a diplomatic solution into dust.
