Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir openly endorsed former US President Donald Trump in this year's American presidential elections in an interview with Bloomberg that was published on Wednesday.
According to Ben-Gvir, under Trump, America will take a harder stance against Iran and Israel will not be forced to hold back as much against Iran's terrorist proxies.
“I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran," Ben-Gvir said. “With Trump, it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated.”
He added, “The US has always stood behind Israel in terms of armaments and weapons, yet this time the sense was that we were being reckoned with — that we were trying to be prevented from winning. That happened on Biden’s watch and fed Hamas with lots of energy.”
Ben-Gvir said that under normal circumstances, he would be required to maintain his neutrality in an allied country's elections, "but that’s impossible to do after Biden."
He criticized Israel's response to the large-scale Iranian attack on Israel in April, in which hundreds of missiles and drones were launched at the Jewish State, as "weak," and said, “Israel should respond to attacks on it in a determined, pain-inflicting manner."
He further stated that in light of the Hamas massacre of about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent security challenges in the aftermath of the massacre, “Many Israelis realize that I was right all along."
The Biden administration has been criticized in recent months for its growing opposition to the continuation of the war against Hamas and for holding up weapons shipments to Israel during the war.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released an unprecedented video criticizing the delays in the weapons shipments.
"When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation, I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war," Netanyahu said in the video.
"But I also said something else, I said it's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel. Israel, America's closest ally, [is] fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies," he said.
Biden also reportedly told the Israeli government not to retaliate following the launching of over 300 missiles and attack drones at Israel by Iran in April, saying that Israel should "take the win" after over 95% of the missiles and drones were intercepted.
US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he will not run for reelection. His Vice President, Kamala Harris, has announced that she will run in Biden's stead and is expected to formally receive the Democratic Party's nomination next month.