US President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on Israeli President Isaac Herzog, calling him “weak and pathetic” and accusing him of lying about a promise to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Anadolu Agency reports.

“He told me many times, more than once, that he would pardon him, and he lied to me,” Trump told Israel’s Channel 14, adding that Herzog was “not a leader”.

He argued that Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial was a distraction from the war effort.

“Bibi needs to focus on the war, not on nonsense,” he said.