By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner refused to defend Donald Trump after he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7, according to a book by journalist Michael Wolff.
Wolff’s book, All or Nothing, released this week, offers an inside look at Trump’s 2024 campaign, detailing its dramatic transformation from the aftermath of the January 6th turmoil to a eventual election victory.
Following Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu and Israeli officials, some in Trump’s inner circle asked Jared and Ivanka to issue a statement defending Trump against accusations of antisemitism and faltering support of Israel.
The couple flatly refused, according to the book, and Kushner said, “No, Ivanka and I aren’t going to do that. “We’re not going to put our name on something and get in the middle of things. That’s just not what we’re going to do this time.”
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “deserved blame” for the Hamas invasion, but added that if elected, he would strive to protect Israel.
In an interview with Time magazine, Trump criticized Netanyahu and noted that October 7th “happened on his watch.”
Speaking of Israel, Trump said, “They have the most sophisticated equipment.”
He added, “They had—everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed.”
In a speech Trump made on October 11 2023, he said Netanyahu “was not prepared and Israel was not prepared.”
He added, “Thousands of people knew about it and they let this slip by. ”
It was also on October 11 that Trump recounted an anecdote that Netanyahu allegedly pulled out of a plan to kill Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Qassam Soleimani in January 2020.
In the interview, Trump refers to this alleged incident as a “bad experience” with Netanyahu.
He said, “All of a sudden, we were told that Israel was not doing it. And I was not happy about that. That was something I never forgot. And it showed me something.”
