Former President Donald Trump maintains that a big reason he failed to achieve an "ultimate deal" between the Israelis and Palestinians was that then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu never wanted to make peace, Axios reported.
In January 2020, Trump presented a peace plan that was considered the most favorable proposal for Israel made by a U.S. president since the Madrid peace conference in 1991, Axios said.
Trump, as did then-Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, concluded that Netanyahu never wanted to negotiate a two-state solution.
"I don't think Bibi [Netanyahu] ever wanted to make peace," Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid, who was working on a new book, in April.
"I think he just tapped us along. Just tap, tap, tap, you know?"
Trump’s comments came to light Monday, several days after an Israeli newspaper reported he lashed out with profanity at Netanyahu for congratulating President Joe Biden on his victory in last year's election.
The former president told Ravid that, shortly after taking office, he realized Netanyahu would be a bigger obstacle to peace than Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"I thought [Abbas] was terrific," Trump told Ravid. "He was almost like a father. Couldn't have been nicer. I thought he wanted to make a deal more than Netanyahu."
After Abbas told Trump a deal could be made, Netanyahu urged the then-president to wait.
"My whole life is deals," Trump told Ravid. "I'm like one big deal. That's all I do, so I understand it. And after meeting with Bibi for three minutes … I stopped Bibi in the middle of a sentence. I said, 'Bibi, you don't want to make a deal. Do you?' And he said, 'Well, uh, uh uh' — and the fact is, I don't think Bibi ever wanted to make a deal."
Trump concluded Netanyahu's stance resulted from domestic Israeli politics, Axios reported.
Abbas, however, also earned criticism from Trump for offering "hugs and kisses" and "wonderful communication" behind closed doors but taking a different approach publicly.
"When he went back home, he didn't say the right things. He said much more warlike things than what he said to my face," Trump told Ravid. "Maybe he felt, politically, it was good."
The Trump administration, in its final year, shifted from seeking a Middle East peace plan to four normalization deals between Israel and Arab states.
Axios reported Trump’s efforts to secure a peace plan also were hurt when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and added the U.S. Embassy would move there.
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