US President Donald Trump on Monday declared that he will get "problems solved real fast" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following Netanyahu's refusal to withdraw Israeli forces from southern Lebanon despite ongoing US-Iran peace talks.
Trump's Problem-Solving Pledge
When asked how he would ensure that the Israeli PM does not sabotage the negotiations regarding the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU), Trump declined to reveal his plan but characterized himself as a "problem solver."
"I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to do, but it gets solved. I'm a problem solver. I get problems solved real fast, including with Bibi," Trump told reporters in Washington DC.
Netanyahu's Stance on Southern Lebanon
Trump's statement came in response to Netanyahu's remarks at the Jerusalem News Syndicate's International Policy Summit 2026, where the Israeli leader disregarded the US-Iran MoU and reaffirmed his commitment to protect Israel. Netanyahu asserted that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon, even as a quadrilateral meeting in Switzerland agreed to form a "de-confliction zone" to cease hostilities in Lebanon.
"No matter what happens in the talks, with an agreement, without an agreement, I pledge to you that Iran, as long as I'm Prime Minister, will never have a nuclear weapon. Never. As long as I am the Prime Minister of Israel, I will not let that happen. As long as we need to protect our people, we will remain in the security zone in South Lebanon. No country would be asked to do otherwise," Netanyahu said.
Israeli PM's Defense of Military Operations
Netanyahu further justified the IDF's presence by drawing a parallel to how the United States would respond to a similar threat. "Now you imagine the United States across the border. You have thousands, an army of thousands of terrorists who pellet your cities and your towns with rockets and ballistic missiles and killer drones. They kill your soldiers, they kill your citizens, they kill your children and they threaten them every day. Well, what would America do? Would it say, well, there's nothing we can do. Let's hold our fire. Is that what America would say? No. You know well what America would do. It would cross the border, create a security zone, kill the terrorists and protect its people until the threat is removed. That's exactly what we are doing," he said.
Diplomatic Friction Between US and Israel
Netanyahu also pushed back against assertions that he or Trump take directives from one another, following remarks from the American leader suggesting Israel follows his commands in West Asia. This diplomatic friction arises amid growing discord between Washington and Jerusalem concerning Israel's ongoing military campaign in Lebanon. Trump has cautioned that these actions threaten to destabilize the memorandum of understanding established with Iran last week after extensive diplomatic efforts.
