US President-Elect Donald Trump shared a video on his Truth Social platform containing an antisemitic conspiracy theorist's claims that Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the Iraq War launched by the US in 2003.
In the video, Economist Jeffrey Sachs first claimed that former US President Barack Obama ordered the CIA to depose former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown by rebel forces in November. According to Sachs, Obama gave the order three times in ten years.
About a minute in, Sachs began discussing the Iraq War and claimed that the American government knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and only said there were to "sell the war to the American people.
He then claimed that the Iraq War "came from Netanyahu." According to him, "Netanyahu had from 1995 onward the theory that the only way we're gonna get rid of Hamas and Hezbollah is by toppling the governments that support them. That's Iraq, Syria, and Iran. And the guy's nothing if not obsessive. He's still trying to get us to fight Iran this day, this week."
"He's a deep, dark son of a b-," Sachs said of Netanyahu.
Benjamin Netanyahu had served as Prime Minister of Israel from 1996-1999 before being voted out of office. He would not return to the premiership until 2009. The Prime Minister of Israel during the early 2000s when the Iraq War was planned and launched was Ariel Sharon. Netanyahu briefly served as Foreign Minister in the Sharon government from November 6, 2002 until February 28, 2003 before being appointed Finance Minister.
Trump posted the video without comment. The video was accompanied by a text from an account called Wall Street Apes highlighting the portion that dealt with the Obama presidency. Netanyahu and the Iraq War were not mentioned in the accompanying text.
Jeffrey Sachs has become notorious for his conspiracy theories and defense of brutal dictatorial regimes such as the Assad regime in Syria. Last month, he claimed in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Netanyahu had planned the collapse of the Assad regime as part of a 30-year plan to remake the Middle East. He also claimed that the US has gone to war against Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan, all because Netanyahu wanted it to.
“Israel has run American foreign policy in the Middle East for 30 years. That’s how it works. Now we have the Israel lobby,” he told Carlson.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said in response to the Carlson interview, “Congratulations to Tucker Carlson for becoming the leading platform for fringe Holocaust deniers, conspiracy theorists, and blood libel enthusiasts who oppose the State of Israel.”