U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Thursday night and “agreed to continue coordination on various fronts between the two countries,” a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: “President Trump updated the Prime Minister on US developments in the Gulf.”
“The Prime Minister emphasized the seriousness of the statements made by (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan and his associates against the existence of the State of Israel and the need to maintain a safe zone along Israel’s borders.”
Background: The Turkish leader, who just hosted a NATO summit in his capital Ankara, repeatedly accused Israel of undermining the Memorandum of Understanding agreement between the United States and Iran. Also this week, Israel expressed concern about the potential sale of the F-35 stealth fighter jet to Turkey, which President Trump raised during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in an exclusive interview with CNN that Erdogan is “not a model ally of the United States.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also claimed that Erdogan was “threatening to destroy our country, the only Jewish state.”
