Donald Trump shouted and cursed at Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that took place days before the public announcement of the agreement to end the war in Gaza last year, according to a new book published Tuesday in the United States. Trump told the Israeli prime minister, “Everybody is sick of you, Bibi,” and added, “All the Jews are sick of you, even the two Jews on this call.” Jared Kushner and White House envoy Steve Witkoff were also on the line.
The account appears in a book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, which follows Trump’s first year back in office. It says the tense call happened during the UN General Assembly in September, while Trump was promoting his 20-point plan to end the war that began after Hamas’s October 7 attack. The book describes two frantic weeks leading to the deal, starting with Kushner’s anger at Israel after the IDF struck Hamas leadership in Qatar on September 9, a day after Kushner and Witkoff met Ron Dermer in Miami to discuss the “day after” in Gaza. Kushner and Witkoff later told senior White House officials that “Dermer lied to us.”
According to the book, Qatar initially responded that it no longer wanted to help Israel, and Kushner said, “I’m fucking out, the Israelis are crazy.” He later cooled off, seeing a chance to use the crisis to rein in Netanyahu after nearly two years of war, and then drafted the text that became Trump’s peace plan.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kushner and Witkoff met Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and told him the choice was either to further isolate Israel or use the moment to push it into talks. Al Thani took Kushner’s laptop and began editing the draft himself. Trump showed the agreement to Arab and Muslim leaders before Netanyahu saw it, and aides feared Netanyahu would try to call Trump and derail it. When he did call, Susie Wiles put Kushner and Witkoff on the line, and Trump erupted. He told Netanyahu, “You can’t back out of this,” and, “I’m the best friend Israel has ever had. Everybody hates you, and I stood by you.” Netanyahu agreed to the deal, and the two leaders announced it together at a joint press conference two days later, even though it was not yet formal. The agreement was finalized on October 8, and soon after, the last 20 living hostages in Gaza were released. The book also says Trump called Netanyahu a “con man” and said the prime minister never wanted peace.
