Former United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is expected next week to publish a book describing how the Abraham Accords came about, and his involvement as a Trump administration official.
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In Sledgehammer: How Breaking with the Past Brought Peace to the Middle East, Friedman describes the "greatest US foreign policy accomplishment in decades," hailing former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "never taking his eyes off the ball" and "always giving the right answer."
On many occasions, I accompanied Netanyahu with other US officials, and instead of resting or looking out the window, he always read history books intently until landing, Friedman says in Sledgehammer.
The former ambassador even described how once he and the former premier got stuck in an elevator for ten minutes due to a mechanical malfunction, and how Netanyahu "kept conversing as if nothing had changed," while Friedman, who is "seriously claustrophobic," felt like they were trapped.
The book also criticizes former President Reuven Rivlin, who, according to Friedman, met in 2017 with then-President Donald Trump and spoke on matters that were not to the point. For example, Rivlin thanked the US president for the Mosul airstrike (an American bombing in Iraq on 17 March 2017 that killed hundreds of civilians), although it was clear based on the context that he meant the attack on the Syrian airbase.
By the time Rivlin was done, you could tell he was tired and unlikely to stay focused, Friedman says in the book.
According to the former ambassador, Rivlin also invited Trump's rival – Nancy Pelosi – to the 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, although he was told only the president, prime minister, or vice president of each country would be invited to attend. Pelosi was the speaker of the House of Representatives.
I called Rivlin to ask about the secret invitation, and in response, I was told that it was none of my business. I was furious. I called the President's Residence and said, You beg me to bring Vice President Mike Pence Pence as a representative of your most important ally – who did not want to come – but do not have the decency to let me know that behind my back you invited the person responsible for outing Trump? Friedman writes in the book.
Rivlin declined to comment on the matter.
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