US President Donald Trump called into question whether or not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would run for reelection in the upcoming Knesset elections, according to a Tuesday report from ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
"He's had an amazing career," Trump told Karl in a phone call. "Does he want to continue? Because, you know, he's a wartime prime minister."
"We will very shortly win the war one way or the other," Trump continued, "and you know he's a wartime prime minister."
"That's ok," he added, "just like I'm a wartime president."
Trump told Netanyahu not to escalate with Iran or else 'you could be left alone very soon'
The US president also recently told Israel's Channel 12 about a conversation he had with Netanyahu in light of tensions between Israel and Iran.
"I told Bibi, you'd better be careful what you do, because you could be left alone against Iran very soon," Trump said.
On Sunday, Trump asked Netanyahu to avoid striking Iran in retaliation for the recent Iranian missile attack on Israel. That conversation ended without a clear agreement, and Netanyahu did not tell Trump his final decision on the matter, according to a Monday report by Channel 12.
Netanyahu 'won't have any choice' but to accept Iran deal, Trump tells FT
The US president also told the Financial Times on Sunday that Netanyahu "won’t have any choice" but to accept a deal with Iran.
“I call the shots. I call all the shots," said Trump. "He doesn’t call the shots.”
'Together, we will bring safety to the North'
Netanyahu released a pre-recorded press statement on Monday evening, in which he confirmed that he and Trump were in contact but did not go into detail.
“I told Trump: ‘Together, we will bring safety to the North," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s coalition criticizes cancellation of Lebanon strikes after Trump’s intervention
The latest round of Iranian missile attacks on Israel came immediately after IDF strikes on Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, in Lebanon on Sunday.
One week earlier, the prime minister came under fire for Israel's decision to cancel an earlier round of strikes on Beirut at Trump's behest.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a partner in Netanyahu’s coalition, sharply criticized the move, stating that “This is the time to tell our friend, President Trump – ‘no’.”
Former IDF chief of staff and Yashar! Party leader Gadi Eisenkot called Trump’s directive “a humiliating demand, one that is blatantly unreasonable.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of behaving as though Israel were a protectorate state of the US.
Keshet Neev and Danya Saperstein contributed to this report.