Trump Must Tell Netanyahu 'Enough is Enough', Ex-Israeli PM Says

Olmert insists that the two-state plan is viable. (AFP)
Olmert insists that the two-state plan is viable. (AFP)
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Trump Must Tell Netanyahu 'Enough is Enough', Ex-Israeli PM Says

Olmert insists that the two-state plan is viable. (AFP)
Olmert insists that the two-state plan is viable. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump should tell Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu "enough is enough", a former Israeli prime minister told AFP, denouncing the continuation of the war in Gaza as a "crime" and insisting a two-state solution is the only way to end the conflict.

Ehud Olmert, prime minister between 2006-2009, said in an interview in Paris that the United States has more influence on the Israeli government "than all the other powers put together" and that Trump can "make a difference".

He said Netanyahu "failed completely" as a leader by not preventing the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas that sparked the war.

He said while the international community accepted Israel's right to self-defense after October 7, this changed when Netanyahu spurned chances to end the war in March and instead ramped up operations.

Netanyahu "has his personal interests which are prioritized over what may be the national interests," Olmert charged.

Analysts say Netanyahu fears that if he halts the war, hardline members of his coalition will walk out, collapsing the government and forcing elections he could lose.

"If there is a war which is not going to save hostages, which cannot really eradicate more of what they did already against Hamas and if, as a result of this, soldiers are getting killed, hostages maybe get killed and innocent Palestinians are killed, then to my mind this is a crime," said Olmert.

"And this is something that should be condemned and not accepted," he said.

Trump should summon Netanyahu to the White House Oval Office and facing cameras, tell the Israeli leader: "'Bibi: enough is enough'", Olmert said, using the premier's nickname.

"This is it. I hope he (Trump) will do it. There is nothing that cannot happen with Trump. I don't know if this will happen. We have to hope and we have to encourage him," said Olmert.

Despite occasional expressions of concern about the situation in Gaza, the US remains Israel's key ally, using its veto at the UN Security Council and approving billions of dollars in arms sales.

- 'Doable and valid' -

Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Hamas abducted 251 hostages, 54 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 54,880 people, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, figures the United Nations deems reliable.

Along with former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Al-Qidwa, Olmert is promoting a plan to end decades of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Both sides would swap 4.4 percent of each other's land to the other, according to the plan, with Israel receiving some West Bank territory occupied by Israeli settlers and a future Palestinian state territory that is currently part of Israel.

Ahead of a meeting this month in New York co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on steps towards recognizing a Palestinian state, Olmert said that such a plan is "practical, is doable, is relevant, is valid and is real."

Olmert spent over a year in prison from 2016-2017 after being convicted in corruption scandals that ended his political career and efforts to forge peace.

A longtime political rival of Netanyahu even though they both emerged from the same Likud right-wing party, he also faces an uphill struggle to convince Israeli society where support for a Palestinian state, let alone land swaps, is at a low ebb after October 7.

"It requires a leadership on both sides," said Olmert. "We are trying to raise international awareness and the awareness of our own societies that this is not something lost but offers a future of hope."

- 'Get rid of both' -

Al-Qidwa, who is due to promote the plan alongside Olmert at a conference organized by the Jean-Jaures Foundation think tank in Paris on Tuesday, told AFP the blueprint was the "only game in town and the only doable solution".

But he said societies in Israel and the Palestinian territories still had to be convinced, partly due to the continuation of the war.

"The moment the war comes to an end we will see a different kind of thinking. We have to go forward with acceptance of the co-existence of the two sides."

But he added there could be no hope of "serious progress with the current Israeli government and current Palestinian leadership" under the ageing president Mahmud Abbas, in office now for two decades.

"You have to get rid of both. And that is going to happen," he said, labelling the Palestinian leadership as "corrupt and inept".

 



Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
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Trump Says US Has Given Ukraine Too Many Weapons in First Public Comments on Pause in Shipments

A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
A truck with mounted anti-aircraft cannon, of the of 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires towards Russian drones and missiles during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 2, 2025. (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Press Service of the 127th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)

President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden "emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves."

Air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons are among those being withheld from Ukraine. The country suffered a new barrage overnight, with warnings of ballistic missiles followed by explosions in Kyiv. The sound of machine gun fire and drone engines could be heard across the capital.

Trump, who also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, suggested he wasn't completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.

"We've given so many weapons," he said, adding that "we are working with them and trying to help them."

Trump said he had a "pretty long call" with Putin that "didn't make any progress" in resolving the war, which the Republican president had promised to swiftly bring to a conclusion.

"I’m not happy about that," he said.

The Kremlin described the conversation as "frank and constructive" — the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House.

While discussing the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East, Putin emphasized the need to resolve all differences "exclusively by political and diplomatic means," said Yuri Ushakov, his foreign affairs adviser.

The leaders agreed that Russian and US officials will maintain contact on the issue, he added.

The United States struck three sites in Iran on June 22, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying Tehran's nuclear program.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized his push for a quick halt to the fighting, and Putin voiced Moscow’s readiness to pursue talks with Kyiv, noting the previous rounds in Türkiye yielded humanitarian results.

At the same time, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict, Ushakov said.

"Russia will not back down from these goals," Ushakov told reporters after the call.

Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine's push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine — arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine abandon its NATO bid and recognize Russia's territorial gains.

Ushakov said a suspension of some US weapons shipments to Ukraine wasn’t discussed in the Trump-Putin call.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he may talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.

"I hope that maybe tomorrow, or close days, these days, I will speak about it with President Trump," he said.

The previous publicly known call between Trump and Putin came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.

The resumed contact between Trump and Putin appeared to reflect their interest in mending US-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Ushakov said the leaders discussed developments in Syria and expressed interest in pursuing bilateral projects in the energy sector and space exploration, during what he described as "frank, businesslike and concrete conversation."

The Kremlin adviser added that Putin even suggested that the US and Russia could exchange movies promoting "traditional values shared by us and the Trump administration."

On Tuesday, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.