A new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan describes an unusually sharp confrontation between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu during the negotiations over a Gaza deal in September. The book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," says Trump was at a boiling point with Netanyahu and shouted at him in a phone call that also included White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
According to the authors, the call took place just days before Trump unveiled his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. During the exchange, Trump allegedly told Netanyahu that "everyone is fed up with you," and added that Jews close to him had also lost patience with the Israeli prime minister. The book says the crisis began after an Israeli strike in Doha, carried out soon after Kushner and Witkoff met with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The book says Kushner and Witkoff accused Dermer of presenting them with a different picture from what was happening on the ground, and that Qatar was considering reducing its mediation role. Kushner later drafted Trump's peace proposal, and the plan was revised further in a New York meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani before it was shown to Netanyahu.
Haberman and Swan write that the White House feared Netanyahu would try to undermine the effort. When he called the White House, he was connected to Trump, Witkoff and Kushner, and Trump immediately began pressuring him to accept the deal. Trump reportedly told Netanyahu he could not back away from the emerging agreement and said, "I am the best friend Israel has ever had," stressing that it was a good deal for Israel. Netanyahu said he would agree. Two days later, the two appeared together at a joint press conference and projected unity, even though the accord was not yet formally complete. The deal was finalized a little more than a week later, with the release of the 20 living hostages then still held in Gaza.
