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Netanyahu on Trump’s dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes: ‘He shouldn’t do that’
(JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu, the incoming Israeli prime minister who has said that Donald Trump was Israel’s best-ever friend in the White House, said the former president’s dinner a week ago with two antisemites was a “mistake.”
‘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,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Bari Weiss that the opinion journalist posted Wednesday on her newsletter, Common Sense. “I think it’s a mistake. He shouldn’t do that.”
Weiss had asked Netanyahu to comment on Trump’s meeting with Kanye West, the rapper and designer now known as Ye who in recent weeks has come out as an antisemite, and Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and antisemite whom Ye now consults. It was not clear which one of the two Netanyahu was referring to as “this person.” Netanyahu said he also condemned Ye’s recent remarks, which accuse Jews of exercising outsize control and declaring “death con 3 on the Jews.”
Netanyahu’s comments come as he himself is under fire for working with extremists as he sets up a government that includes avowed homophobes and figures who have embraced the philosophies of the latest racist rabbi, Meir Kahane.
As prime minister in 2020, Netanyahu broke a custom of not favoring one U.S. president over another. “We have the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” Netanyahu said at a time that Trump was set to launch an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. The plan, seen as strongly favoring Israel, was dead on arrival when the Palestinians refused to consider it.
In his interview with Weiss, Netanyahu once again made clear his appreciation of Trump, who hewed U.S. policy to Netanyahu’s agenda: ditching the Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, defunding the Palestinians and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, among other measures.
“He has been a tremendous supporter of Israel, and I’m unabashedly appreciative of what he did for Israel,” he said. “I appreciate all that it doesn’t take away from. Also, you know, he’s been very supportive of the Jewish people. So I think he made a mistake. I hope it’s not repeated. That’s all I can tell you.”
Leading Republicans have criticized Trump for the meeting, among them David Friedman, whom Trump named as ambassador to Israel and who worked closely with Netanyahu to implement Trump’s changes in U.S. Israel policy.
Trump has said that he met with Ye because he was a friend in trouble, and that he did not know who Fuentes is.
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The post Netanyahu on Trump’s dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes: ‘He shouldn’t do that’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.