A Ron DeSantis super PAC on Monday launched an ad campaign slamming former president Donald Trump over his criticism last week of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The video ad—which highlights Trump's comments that Netanyahu "let us down" during the U.S. assassination of Iranian terror chief Qassem Soleimani—is being distributed through text messages in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, according to the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down.
"As Israel fights terrorists, Trump attacks Israel," says the ad.
The campaign comes as Trump's Republican opponents have denounced the former president for criticizing Israel's leader while the country is under siege from Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists. In response, Trump and his allies highlighted his pro-Israel record in office, and the former president has posted in support of Israel and Netanyahu on social media.
The anti-Trump video includes a clip of DeSantis telling supporters that now is "not the time to be attacking our ally."
"Prime Minister Netanyahu is somebody that I've become friends with. He is managing one of the most difficult situations Israel's ever had to face," DeSantis says in the video. "We want them to be successful in this conflict. But you're not going to find me throwing verbal grenades at the Israeli leadership."
Trump has had a personal feud with Netanyahu since 2020, when the Israeli prime minister congratulated Joe Biden for winning the election as Trump was challenging the outcome—an act that Trump perceived as disloyal.
The former president during a campaign rally last week appeared to rehash the grievance, suggesting that Netanyahu wasn't supportive of the U.S. assassination of Soleimani.
"I'll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing, I will say that," said Trump. "And then Bibi tried to take credit for it."
After facing backlash over the comments, Trump highlighted his pro-Israel record in office. As president, he moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and helped negotiate diplomatic treaties between Israel and other Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates.
"There was no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump," said Trump in a statement on Thursday. He also posted "#IStandWithIsrael" and "#IStandWithBibi" on his social media platform Truth Social.