The former US president gave two interviews to Walla and Axios journalist Barak Ravid in April and July for his new book, Trump’s Peace: The Abrahamic Agreement and the Transformation of the Middle East, which is now being published in Israel.
In the recordings just posted – by ujkelet.live Summarization Trump said of his efforts to mediate between Jerusalem and Ramallah, saying that over time he felt that the then Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was not really interested in reaching an agreement.
Trump said when he took office, that he asked Netanyahu to make a gesture toward the Palestinians, which raised the possibility of a construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, but that “Bibi did not want to make a deal.”
Now I don’t know if he doesn’t want it for political or other reasons. I wish he had said he didn’t want to compromise instead…because so many people worked on it. But I don’t think Bibi made a deal at all. This is my opinion. I think the general [Gantz] Trump said.
He said Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, “wants an agreement more than Netanyahu.” (Trump then accused Abbas of lying to him and inciting Israel, and Abbas insulted Trump in the wake of the visit.)
Trump called up Netanyahu in the interview, telling Netanyahu that it was a very good meeting with Abbas, but that Netanyahu doesn’t really want to move forward. “The truth is, I don’t think Bibi ever wanted to make a deal,” Trump said in an interview. He said:
I thought the Palestinians were hopeless and the Israelis were doing everything they could for peace and reconciliation. I realized that’s not true.”
Despite his frustration, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6, 2017, and also announced the relocation of the US embassy, prompting the Palestinians to sever ties with Washington.
Netanyahu and Trump on September 26, 2018 in New York.
Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP
Trump repeated: “I don’t think Bibi ever wanted to make peace. I think he just took advantage of us… ‘No, no, we want, we want…’ But I think Bibi didn’t want to make peace. He never wanted that.”
Trump was more positive about former chief of staff Benny Gantz, who formed a power-sharing government with Netanyahu in 2020 and should have taken over as prime minister after a certain period of time, but the agreement was not honored, so the government collapsed and Netanyahu was led. Fail. (ujkelet.live via Saturday)
