Donald Trump shared a provocative video last night containing severe criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The video, posted by the president-elect on his Truth Social platform, features Professor Jeffrey David Sachs, a Columbia University economist, who attributes responsibility for the Syrian crisis to both the US and Israel. According to Sachs, "the Obama [administration] tasked the CIA to overthrow the Syrian government before Russia intervened." He further claims that the US sought war in Iraq and conducted focus groups to determine the most effective way to market the conflict. Sachs concluded by posing a pointed question: "Where did this war come from? It's quite surprising. That war came from Netanyahu actually."
Jeffrey Sachs: Netanyahu is a "deep dark son of a bitch". pic.twitter.com/aADjC8fGZT
— Philipp von Becker (@PhilippvBecker) November 5, 2024
"Netanyahu had, from 1995 onward, the theory that the only way we're going to get rid of Hamas and Hezbollah is by toppling the governments who support them, that's Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The guy is nothing if not obsessive, and he is still trying to get us to fight Iran this day, this week. He's a deep dark son of a b******, sorry to tell you."
This latest criticism from Professor Sachs follows a pattern of similar statements against Israel. Two weeks prior, during an interview on former judge and current commentator Andrew Peter Napolitano's YouTube channel, Sachs claimed Syria's collapse is "part of Netanyahu's strategy to expand Israel's territory, incorporating not only Palestine but portions of Syria, Lebanon, and even Egypt." In an Al Jazeera interview nine months earlier, he accused Israel of genocide and portrayed the US as complicit.
In 2018, Sachs advocated for US withdrawal from Syria (during its campaign against ISIS), questioned the application of the term genocide to China's treatment of the Uyghurs, and opposed Western support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. He gained prominence on Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov's program after suggesting US involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in 2022.
