Certainly one of former President Donald J. Trump’s closest international coverage advisers, Robert O’Brien, met with Top Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday as a part of a delegation of former Trump officers that visited numerous Israeli leaders.
Mr. O’Brien, who served as nationwide safety abettor to Mr. Trump and is predicted to play games an important function in any 2d Trump management, used to be joined within the conferences via two alternative former Trump officers — the previous ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, John Rakolta, and the previous ambassador to Switzerland, Ed McMullen. The individuals of the delegation have been described via Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for the American Israel Population Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying crew whose associate, the American Israel Training Underpinning, funded and arranged the shuttle.
In a temporary telephone interview, Mr. O’Brien mentioned he had sought after to consult with Israel ever because the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7 to specific his “solidarity for Israel and the Jewish people.”
Mr. O’Brien mentioned Mr. Trump used to be acutely aware of his shuttle to Israel, however he mentioned the previous president had no longer requested him to walk or directed him to mention the rest to Mr. Netanyahu. He mentioned he used to be there as a “private citizen,” including that he did categorical his view to Mr. Netanyahu that the Hamas terrorist assault would by no means have took place if Mr. Trump have been nonetheless president.
Requested whether or not Mr. Netanyahu additionally expressed those perspectives about Mr. Trump, Mr. O’Brien mentioned: “He’s a pro, and he understands he needs good relations with the Biden administration. But that was my sentiment.”
The previous Trump management officers and Mr. Netanyahu met on Monday no longer lengthy nearest the Global Prison Courtroom’s prominent prosecutor in The Hague, Karim Khan, sought arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu, his protection prominent and 3 Hamas leaders on fees of crimes in opposition to humanity.
Mr. O’Brien mentioned he instructed Mr. Netanyahu that Mr. Khan’s choice used to be a “disgrace,” and he reminded the Israeli chief of the Trump management’s choice to impose sanctions at the Global Prison Courtroom in 2020.
“I’ve spent my entire career as an international lawyer and I’m sickened by this prosecutor,” Mr. O’Brien mentioned. “If he’s really concerned about a genocide he ought to be looking at the C.C.P. and the Uighurs,” he added, relating to the Chinese language Communist Birthday celebration’s oppression of Muslims within the a long way western patch of Xinjiang.
Mr. O’Brien and the alternative former Trump officers met with a number of alternative Israeli policymakers, together with the protection minister, Yoav Gallant, and Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s struggle cupboard who’s increasingly more at odds with Mr. Netanyahu.
The delegation additionally visited two websites of the Hamas terrorist assaults on Oct. 7: the Nir Ounces kibbutz and the ground in southern Israel, alike to the Gaza border, the place younger Israelis have been murdered age dancing at a tune pageant.
Mr. Wittmann, the AIPAC spokesman, mentioned the shuttle used to be deliberate a number of months in the past and the group had organized and funded visits to Israel for former officers from each Democratic and Republican administrations.
