https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-03-06/ty-article-magazine/.premium/trump-is-an-antisemite-israel-bores-him-an-interview-with-biographer-michael-wolff/00000195-6b76-d7b0-af95-ef7f79b50000Take it with a grain of salt since it's yet another Trump book, but interesting nuggets here.
In Trump's mind, 10/7 was Bibi's fault not because of any security flaw, but because he congratulated Biden on winning, which Trump sees as the ultimate betrayal.
Donald Trump was caught off guard by the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, while heading to a campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa. "It's a perfect setup to deliver a forceful defense of Israel and outdo Biden in backing Israel's military plans," writes veteran journalist Michael Wolff in his new book "All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America."
With Iowa's evangelical base strongly pro-Israel, Wolff notes that "a Trumpian show of fire and fury toward the Palestinians would surely play big." Yet instead of capitalizing on the moment, Trump issued a weak statement – surprising for someone who rarely misses an opportunity for bombastic rhetoric, especially when it serves his political interests.
One reason for Trump's lukewarm remarks, Wolff explains in an interview with Haaretz, is his general disinterest in foreign policy, particularly the Middle East. "He has always been bored by the Israeli-Palestinian dynamic," he says, adding that Trump reacts poorly to anything that diverts attention from him. "Even if it's one of the most seminal events in Israeli history, it doesn't make any difference – it takes attention away from him, and that leaves him feeling sour at best."
But there was another factor at play: revenge. Trump blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whom he saw as responsible for the attacks – not for any policy failure, but for the ultimate betrayal: congratulating Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory. Netanyahu's efforts to mend ties at the time did little to ease Trump's resentment.
