Former US President Donald Trump weighed throwing his support behind Blue and White chief Defense Minister Benny Gantz's bid for prime minister, Walla!'s Barak Ravid reported.
According to a new book by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, "After [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s speech at the rollout of the peace plan, in which he spoke about annexation, Trump considered taking the unusual step and endorsing Benny Gantz for pm in the March 2020 election."
"Breaking History" is scheduled to be released on August 23. In it, Kushner refers to Netanyahu's statement that the "deal of the century" would allow Israel to annex various settlements in Judea and Samaria - a statement not previously agreed upon with the US.
"This was a step too far," Kushner wrote. "I grabbed my chair so intensely that my knuckles turned white, as if my grip could make Bibi stop."
Trump for his part, responded by saying, "Bibi [Netanyahu] gave a campaign speech. I feel dirty," and telling Kushner that he was contemplating endorsing Gantz during the next election cycle.
The United Arab Emirates' Yousef Al-Otaiba, ambassador to the US, penned a sharply worded op-ed that was translated into Hebrew and published by Yediot Aharonot. In it, Al-Toaiba warned that if Israel annexed Juda and Samaria, it would kill the chances of making peace with the Arab world.
Following that op-ed, Netanyahu agreed to drop his annexation plan - provided the US could get three countries to normalize relations with Israel.
Kushner recalled that he "couldn’t believe it," but that Netanyahu did indeed drop the plan when it seemed that the Abraham Accords were moving forward.