President Donald Trump let loose another stinging rebuke of Israel and its conduct as U.S. ally in the Iran war during a press conference Tuesday at the G7 Summit in France.
Speaking before reporters in the resort town of Évian-les-Bains on the French side of Lake Geneva, Trump commented on Israel's bombing raid on an apartment complex in Beirut that was home to Hezbollah's leaders.
“Israel's fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed. And you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody.”
Then seemingly out of left field, he proposed this idea:
“And I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah. Because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it,” Trump said.
A comprehensive comparison of Israeli and Syrian military strength, compiled by GlobalFirepower.com and presented side-by-side, doesn’t support Trump’s confidence in the Syrians.
Global Firepower ranks Israel as the world’s No. 15 military for 2026, Syria at No. 87.
But Gary Bauer of American Values says for months in Washington, people have been talking about an idea that has been floated by multiple countries, including Lebanon.
“It’s about whether elements in Syria, with the cooperation of the Lebanese government, could work together to take out Hezbollah,” Bauer said.
Israel has not commented on the possibility of letting Syria finish up its war with Hezbollah, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been resolutely against putting Israel's security into anyone else's hands.
Bauer says such a plan would solve certain issues. For one, Israel cannot go in and occupy part of Lebanon in order to get Hezbollah out. That would end up turning the entire Lebanese population against Israel. But he says that discussion has been going on behind closed doors — until now.
“I think this is another example. The president often says too much, and then it opens him to these types of controversies.
