5 min readJun 24, 2026 10:51 PM IST
First published on: Jun 24, 2026 at 03:21 PM IST
US President Donald Trump allegedly lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a heated phone call in September 2025, telling him that “all the Jews are sick of you” and demanding that he accept a US-backed Gaza ceasefire, according to a new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.
The revelations come as questions persist over the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu, despite close US-Israel coordination during the Iran conflict and ongoing fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
A tense call during the UN General Assembly
The book added that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, believed Netanyahu would falter and attempt to withdraw from a 20-point peace plan they had devised following an Israeli airstrike on a Hamas leader in Doha, Qatar.
‘Everybody’s sick of you, Bibi’
U.S. President Donald Trump during a public appearance. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly engaged in a tense phone conversation last year as differences emerged over regional security and diplomatic strategy in the Middle East. (AP Photo)
A report by The Independent claimed that Trump angrily confronted Netanyahu about Israel’s threats to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Reports of the book suggest Trump exploded at Netanyahu during a phone call with the Israeli premier and Jewish top US aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. He told Netanyahu to “f…ing go along with this” because the war had “gone on for too f…ing long”.
He added, “Everybody’s sick of you, Bibi. All the Jews are sick of you. Even the two Jews on this call are sick of you.” Trump reportedly also warned Netanyahu that he could not back out of the ceasefire framework, telling him he was Israel’s best friend and that he had stood by him even as others turned against him.
It was unclear from the excerpts whether Trump’s blow-up at Netanyahu was related to the Qatar strike or not. The call reportedly occurred during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025 as Trump promoted his 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict and rebuild the war-torn region.
Eighteen days after the airstrike on Qatar, Netanyahu later accepted the agreement presented by Kushner and Witkoff and issued an apology.
Doha strike and its fallout
Earlier in September 2025, Israel launched an airstrike on Hamas’s leadership in Qatar while they were meeting to discuss a potential ceasefire with Israel. According to the book, Kushner and Witkoff were furious with Israel over the strike, which came just a day after the pair had met at Witkoff’s Miami home with Netanyahu’s close adviser, Ron Dermer, to discuss postwar plans for Gaza. The two reportedly accused Dermer of misleading them about Israel’s intentions, and Qatar initially responded by refusing to continue mediating between Israel and Hamas. Kushner is said to have privately vented that he wanted out of the process altogether, branding the Israelis “crazy.”
‘Con man’ and other revelations
The “all the Jews” exchange is not the only unflattering portrait of the relationship to emerge from “Regime Change”. According to the book, Trump privately referred to Netanyahu as a “con man”, a term the authors describe as one of his harshest insults.
The book also recounts a scene in which Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson visited the Oval Office, where Musk was said to be transfixed by a golden pager Netanyahu had gifted Trump, a nod to Israel’s 2024 pager attack on Hezbollah, an operation Trump reportedly found both fascinating and disturbing.
Carlson is described as pressing Trump over the toll in Gaza and warning that Netanyahu was pulling Washington toward war with Iran. The book additionally details friction between Trump and Vice President JD Vance after the US strike on Iran, with Trump irritated that Vance would not echo his claim that the strike had “completely destroyed” Tehran’s nuclear program.
Despite tensions, Trump later aligned with Netanyahu on Iran
Months later, the US joined Israel in military operations against Iran, despite earlier tensions between Trump and Netanyahu. This upended the global economy after Tehran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite months of disagreements, Washington and Tel Aviv have renewed their alignment. A major point of contention was Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. US officials privately expressed concerns about civilian casualties and the potential for a wider regional war involving Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.
There were also differences regarding the scope of Israeli operations near the Lebanon border and the pace of diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire. While these disputes strained personal ties between Trump and Netanyahu, they ultimately didn’t prevent close coordination on Iran.
(This article was curated by Navya Roshan, an intern at The Indian Express)
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in 2025. (Reuters file) 
U.S. President Donald Trump during a public appearance. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly engaged in a tense phone conversation last year as differences emerged over regional security and diplomatic strategy in the Middle East. (AP Photo)
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