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By CHRIS MEGERIAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was “caught off guard”
by the recent Israeli strikes in Syria and on a Catholic church
in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said
Monday.
Her comments were a rare suggestion of daylight between Trump
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have often
been aligned on politics and foreign policy, particularly with
the recent attacks on Iran's nuclear program.
However, Trump is pushing for an end to the war in Gaza and
trying to support the new Syrian government as the country
emerges from years of civil war, and Israeli military operations
have threatened to complicate those initiatives.
An Israeli attack last week hit the Gaza Strip's only Catholic
church, killing three people and stirring outrage. In addition,
Israel intervened during the latest outbreak of sectarian
violence in Syria, even bombing the capital, Damascus.
Leavitt told reporters that Trump has “a good working
relationship” with Netanyahu but “he was caught off guard by the
bombing in Syria and also the bombing of a Catholic church in
Gaza.”
“In both accounts, the president quickly called the prime
minister to rectify those situations,” Leavitt said.
Trump's special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, told The Associated
Press that Israel's intervention in Syria “creates another very
confusing chapter” and “came at a very bad time.”
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