EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France, June 17 (Reuters) - Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use a "softer touch" in the fight against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, the U.S. president's latest public rebuke to his partner in the war on Iran.
Netanyahu and Trump have repeatedly clashed over Israel's refusal to constrain its pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation of hostilities is a key Iranian demand under a limited interim agreement with the U.S.
"Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes," Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the close of a G7 summit in France.
The Israeli leader helped convince Trump to go to war against Iran, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, and joined in attacks launched on February 28.
But Netanyahu has insisted Israel is not bound by any U.S.-Iran agreement in its fight against Hezbollah, though hostilities in Lebanon have abated somewhat since Trump sharply criticized him earlier this week.
"We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say you can do a little softer touch, Bibi," Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. "You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah."
Trump added that he agreed with the description of Israel as being a "very small partner" of the United States but thanked Netanyahu for his role in the conflict against Iran, Israel's arch-foe.
He also insisted he had sent Netanyahu a copy of the "memorandum of understanding" the U.S. reached with Iran on Sunday, pushing back against news reports that the administration had turned down an Israeli request. It paves the way for broader U.S.-Iran peace talks set to begin in Switzerland on Friday.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick; writing by Costas Pitas; editing by Michelle Nichols and Deepa Babington)
