Posted on 12/13/21
| News Source: Arutz-7
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a rare show of support for his successor, former Prime Minister and current Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, following former President Donald Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu.
On Monday, Olmert spoke at the opening session of the 13th Annual Leadership Dialogue on Israel-UK-Australia Relations, an initiative of the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue founded by Jewish philanthropist and businessman Albert Dadon.
During the event, Olmert defended Netanyahu from Trump’s recent criticism, calling the former president “pathetic”.
“Everyone knows my opinion of Netanyahu. I am not fond of him, I don’t appreciate him, I don’t trust him, I don’t believe in his integrity,” said Olmert. “But Trump’s interview is a living example of a man for whom everything is personal. Everything is judged according to his own personal interests.”
“The fact that Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his election victory shows that he acted as we should expect the Israeli PM to act – to congratulate the duly elected American president. He even hesitated in releasing his congratulatory video and waited until it became an embarrassment that the State of Israel, the stalwart ally of the US, would not congratulate the President-elect of the US on his election victory.”
“Trump said that the fact that Netanyahu congratulated Biden is a betrayal of the special relationship between Israel and the US; that is crazy and beyond understanding, he is a pathetic man.”
Olmert also criticized Trump’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
“The American withdrawal from the nuclear deal was a major strategic error that moves Iran closer to a nuclear weapon”