Netanyahu asked about Trump 2024: ‘Keep me out of it’

by Olafimihan Oshin - 12/04/22 4:26 PM ET

AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister and the head of the Likud party, waves to his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party’s headquarters in Jerusalem, on Nov. 2, 2022.

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not wade into discussion of former President Trump’s third run for the White House on Sunday.

Netanyahu, who is set to make his own return to power, was pressed by NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd on whether he would “like to see” Trump become president again.

“Oh, God. I’ve had enough of my politics. I’ve just…gone through four of our elections,” Netanyahu replied. “You want me to get into your elections? Keep me out of it.”

Trump, who is facing a slew of legal and federal investigations, announced his third bid for the White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate last month.

Asked if Trump will be the ideal leader to collaborate on U.S.-Israel relations, Netanyahu replied he would “deal with anyone who’s elected president.”

“Well, let me say that I’ll deal with anyone who’s elected president, those that I worked with in the past and anyone new who comes to the plate because the bond between Israel and America, and this was not a shibboleth, this was not just a saying. It really is a bond of peoples,” Netanyahu said.

“I’ll deal with anyone, and I certainly will not step on that land mine that you just put before me, Chuck. Come on, I’ve been in this business long enough and so have you,” he added. “Keep trying.”

Netanyahu and Trump enjoyed a warm relationship during Trump’s time in office, with the Israeli leader saying during a visit to the White House “Israel has never had a better friend than you.”

However, their relationship has been strained as both have lost power and faced various investigations into alleged wrongdoing.

Trump reportedly blasted Netanyahu last December for his disloyalty, criticizing the Israeli leader for sending a congratulatory message to President Biden following his victory over Trump in the 2020 election.

And Netanyahu called out Trump for his recent dinner with antisemitic rapper Ye and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, telling Todd that he thinks Trump “probably understands that it crosses a line.”

“I condemned Kanye West’s antisemitic statements,” Netanyahu said in an interview earlier this week. “Straight away, I thought that was just wrong and misplaced. And I think that that’s what I would say about President Trump’s decision to dine with this person — I think is wrong and misplaced. I think it’s a mistake. He shouldn’t do that.”