Former President Donald Trump made an extraordinary attack on the government of Israel Wednesday night, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “let us down” by not taking part in the operation that killed a top Iranian general in early 2020 – and calling Hezbollah “very smart” hours after the Lebanon-based terror group fired missiles at Israeli troops.

During a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla., Trump, 77, blamed Israeli and US government officials for Wednesday’s sortie by the Iranian-backed jihadists, which came days after Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,300 people — including hundreds of women, children and the elderly.

The former president claimed the Biden administration and Israeli officials had publicly pointed out the vulnerabilities of the Jewish state, speculating that those comments encouraged Hezbollah.

“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot,’” Trump told the crowd. “I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart.”

Hezbollah is a terrorist group funded by Iran and based in Lebanon on Israel’s northern border.

Hamas is a political organization and terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip — a narrow sliver of land that lies between Israel and Egypt. Members of its Qassam Brigade carried out Saturday’s attack.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terrorist organizations by Israel, the US, and other countries around the world.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, then claimed that Israeli defense officials made the same mistake.     

“They have a national defense minister or somebody saying, ‘I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack us from the north.’ So the following morning, they attacked,” Trump said. 

“They might not have been doing it, but if you listen to this jerk, you would attack from the north, because he said, ‘That’s our weak spot,’” the former president went on. “Whoever heard of officials saying on television that they hope the enemy doesn’t attack in a certain area?” 

Israel-Hamas war: How we got here

2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.

2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.

2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.

2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.

2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.

Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”

The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Wednesday that Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position, but would not comment on possible casualties. 

Hezbollah claims to have killed and wounded Israeli troops in the attack. 

In a clip of an interview with Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show” that was set to air Thursday, Trump slammed Netanyahu, saying the leader wasn’t prepared for the Hamas rampage.

“We have to protect Israel, there’s no choice,” Trump said. “And why do we have to do it? [Netanyahu] has been hurt very badly because of what’s happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”

Trump went on to suggest that if he were president, the US would have detected and prevented the terrorist attack in Israel.

“And under Trump, they wouldn’t have had to be prepared,” he said.

During his remarks at the Florida rally, Trump vowed to “stand with Israel 100%” and “not let them fail” if he’s elected president, moments before recounting “a bad experience” he had with the country’s leadership during his time in office. 

“When we took out [Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani], it was us and Israel working as a group. And we knew where he was. We knew how he was coming in. We knew the plane, we knew everything. We worked on it for weeks, for months, actually,” Trump recalled. 

“He was a very bad guy, very smart guy, but a very bad guy,” Trump said of the Iranian general killed during a US airstrike in Iraq in January 2020. 

“And Israel was going to do this with us and it was being planned and working on it for months and now we had everything all set to go. And the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack,” Trump claimed, adding that “nobody’s heard this story before” and joking that it might be classified. 

Trump explained that he ordered the attack on Soleimani anyway and was not told why Israel allegedly backed out at the last moment, calling Netanyahu’s alleged decision “a terrible thing.”     

“But I’ll never forget — I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” Trump said. “That was a very terrible thing.” 

“And then Bibi tried to take credit for it. That was it. That didn’t make me feel too good, but that’s all right,” Trump lamented. 

The former president added that Israel must “strengthen themselves up” and “ step up their game” militarily. 

Trump’s comments were condemned by one of his rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

“Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,’” DeSantis tweeted. 

“As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are.”