Netanyahu angered Trump so much that he wanted to back his rival in election: Jared Kushner book
Former President Donald Trump became so angry at former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he considered endorsing his rival, according to a forthcoming book by Jared Kushner.
The former U.S. president was frustrated that Netanyahu announced in a January 2020 speech that he would annex the Jordan Valley and all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, which caught both Trump and Kushner by surprise, reported Axios.
“In both tone and substance the speech was way off the mark," wrote Kushner, according to an excerpt from his book Breaking History. "It contained nothing conciliatory toward the Palestinians. It was essentially a campaign speech for his domestic political audience, and it misrepresented our plan."
Kushner said the plan announced by Netanyahu, a close family friend, deviated significantly from the peace proposal Trump had announced, and he said the former president -- his own father-in-law -- expressed disappointment in those remarks.
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“Bibi gave a campaign speech, I feel dirty," Trump said, according to Kushner.
Trump later met with Benny Gantz, a former general and IDF chief of staff, and told Kushner he liked him very much and considered taking "the unusual step" of endorsing Netanyahu's chief rival.
However, former senior White House official told Axios that Kushner and then-White House envoy Avi Berkowitz urged Trump not to interfere.
Trump later told Axios that he was disappointed that Netanyahu had congratulated Joe Biden on his own election win.
"I haven’t spoken to him since," Trump said in an April 2021 interview. "F*ck him."