Ari Harow, who was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's confidant for 13 years, including as his bureau chief, has never spoken with the Israeli media before. Now, he is breaking his silence – and is being interviewed for the first time in an exclusive conversation with Israel Hayom on the occasion of the release of his book "My Brother's Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama, & the Year of Terror & Conflict that Changed the Middle East Forever".
In the interview, which will appear this weekend in full, Harow talks about the dramatic years and the moments alongside Netanyahu, both politically and internationally.
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"At the end of 2014 and early 2015, the masks came off vis-a-vis the Americans," Harow says about how Netanyahu came about to the decision to speak before Congress against the nuclear deal with Iran. According to Harow, "In June 2014, Palestinian Authority President Abbas was the one who blew up the negotiations with Israel, but Secretary of State John Kerry laid blame on both sides.
"This infuriated Netanyahu. Tzipi Livni, who was leading the negotiations at the time, was initially completely on Netanyahu's side, but then, for political reasons, criticized him. That same month, the three teenagers [Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel] were also kidnapped by Hamas. At the same time, we saw the US making progress with the Iranians towards a deal, which was announced in 2015. These two things [placing blame on Israel in the Palestinian issue and the American rapprochement with Iran] resulted in a breakdown of trust between Netanyahu and the Obama administration. The Israeli government found itself in a situation where it had paid dearly and was also blamed without getting anything on the Iranian side."
As a result, Netanyahu decided to speak before Congress: "He thought that even with friends we have to stand up for ourselves, even though we knew we would pay a price."
Harow still defines Netanyahu as a great historic leader but believes that the serious lapses that led to the Oct. 7 Hamas must result in a complete change in Israeli leadership – including in the Prime Minister's Office.
"There cannot be a situation where the person who has set Israel's security policy – who has been Mr. Security throughout his entire political career – says after that very system fails that, 'It's not only my fault'. All the chiefs of the security establishment failed, everyone agrees on that, but as a leader who took upon himself the title of Mr. Security – once the system fails, there can be no doubt about his central role in this failure.
"We need to replace 150 people –the entire leadership that was responsible for the biggest failure in the history of the State of Israel."
Harow, who was under police investigation because of his closeness to Netanyahu and even became a state's witness, added that despite the injustice done to him, he has no regrets. "If I knew that was the price I would pay, would I do it all over again? My answer is yes."
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