WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – President Donald Trump reportedly unleashed a blistering, profanity-laced tirade against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Monday, accusing him of jeopardizing Israel’s purported standing and explicitly reminding him that he would be in prison without Trump’s political protection.
According to an Axios report citing unnamed U.S. officials, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy,” shouted “What the f*** are you doing?” and declared: “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
The confrontation was triggered by Israel’s planned military escalation in Lebanon, which threatened to derail fragile U.S.-Iran negotiations. One official described Trump as “pissed,” while another said the president “steamrolled” Netanyahu during the exchange. A second source told Axios that at one point Trump yelled: “What the f*** are you doing?”
Following the call, Netanyahu cancelled the planned raid on Beirut. Trump announced on Truth Social: “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi.”
The exchange laid bare a transactional dynamic that has long defined Trump’s relationship with the Israeli leader. U.S. officials cited in the report claimed Trump told Netanyahu: “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me.”
Netanyahu faces corruption, bribery, and breach of trust charges in three separate cases, with indictments filed in 2019. An Israeli court recently cancelled a scheduled hearing for his testimony, accepting his request that he was engaged in “security and diplomatic matters.” 
Beyond his domestic legal troubles,
 Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Analysts have long argued that Netanyahu has a direct personal interest in prolonging regional conflict. A Jerusalem Post analysis published last week noted that Netanyahu’s policies have eroded bipartisan U.S. support for Israel, with the Israeli leader’s strategic decisions alienating first the American Left and now the Right.
Trump’s phone call—however heated—does not represent a break from Washington’s material support for Israel’s military campaigns. The United States continues to provide Israel with billions in annual military aid and diplomatic cover, even as international bodies accuse Israeli forces of systematic violations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Public opinion, however, is shifting. A Pew Research Center poll released in April found that six in 10 Americans now hold an unfavorable opinion of Israel, rising to 80 percent among Democrats. The United Nations reported on May 18 that 72,769 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Israeli media and officials erupted in anger over Trump’s unilateral ceasefire announcement between Hezbollah and Israel, with settlers from the north complaining that they remain “ducks in a shooting range.”
“From the chaos in the streets to the Lebanese mud, Israel appears to be an entity where every actor dictates terms to it: the Haredim at home, Hezbollah from outside, and Trump above them all,” wrote Maariv newspaper’s Avi Ashkenazi.
Ashkenazi wrote that Netanyahu’s announcement to strike Beirut was a maneuver. “Netanyahu’s fear of Donald Trump is greater than the pressure he faces from residents of northern Israel and from public outrage over the fact that soldiers are currently sitting like ducks in a shooting range in Lebanon.”
Israeli news outlet Walla cited security sources saying that Tel Aviv’s backtracking on striking Beirut undermined the Israeli occupation in south Lebanon and strengthened ties between Hezbollah and Iran.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid described Israel as a “protectorate state” of the U.S., while Avigdor Lieberman complained that “we are not a banana republic.” Former prime minister Naftali Bennett accused Netanyahu of losing control of Israeli affairs, and so-called security minister Itamar Ben Gvir urged Netanyahu to reject U.S. pressure and proceed with attacks on Hezbollah.
Despite Trump’s unilaterally declared ceasefire, Israeli forces launched a massive, coordinated bombardment across southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Hezbollah rejected any ceasefire that does not include a full end to Israeli attacks across all of Lebanon. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the U.S. proposal was not acceptable.
For Netanyahu, the calculation is simple. As long as the guns remain firing—in Gaza, Lebanon, and potentially on multiple additional fronts—his corruption trial remains postponed, his coalition holds, and his personal freedom remains intact. Trump’s profanity-laced phone call changed none of that.
Within hours of the call, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement asserting that Israel’s position “remains the same.” He later said Israel would strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut if attacks on illegal settlements continued. 
Trump’s blunt warning—”everybody hates Israel because of this”—reflects an administration increasingly aware of the political costs of unconditional support for Netanyahu’s war cabinet. Whether that awareness translates into meaningful constraint remains doubtful.