Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skillfully “played” US President Donald Trump by plying him with inaccurate information, former secretary of state Rex Tillerson said.
Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life after close elections, was “a bit Machiavellian” and would share “misinformation” with the United States, according to Trump’s former top diplomat.
Tillerson, who was fired by Trump last year, made the observations during a forum Tuesday at Harvard University as reported by The Harvard Gazette, the university’s official news outlet.
“In dealing with Bibi, it’s always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,” he was quoted as saying, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
“They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys.’
“We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played,'” Tillerson said, according to the newspaper.
“It bothers me that an ally that’s that close and important to us would do that to us,” he said.
During two election campaigns this year, Netanyahu highlighted his warm relationship with Trump, who has taken long-sought Israeli positions such as recognizing Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.
Netanyahu has long pushed for a hard US line on Iran — an issue that led to open tensions with Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama — and has mused about annexing parts of the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Tillerson said he supported a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians — an idea unlikely to feature in a peace plan being led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser.
Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil executive, has mostly kept a low profile after leaving the administration.
But Trump has twice branded Tillerson “dumb as a rock” after comments seen as questioning the mogul-turned-president’s abilities.
(AP)
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9 Responses
Look whose talking!
Remember! “Al tivtechu bin’divim…”, and “Ashrei shekel Yakov b’ezro”
Lev m’lochim v’sorim b’yad Hashem!
I’m supposed to believe about this person (who not only thinks that a two state solution is possible but in fact thinks that it’s the best solution,) that he understands the difference between information and misinformation when it comes to Israel.
No surprises here.
The most interesting revelation is that trump can and has been played. If Bibi can do it, certainly Kim and Putin can too.
But for some reason, despite everything, Trump is sticking with Bibi and dumped Rex. Hmmmmm.
Wikipedia has an interesting line:
> During Tillerson’s tenure, new applications to work for the Foreign Service fell by 50%, and 60% of high-ranking career diplomats in the State Department resigned.
I suppose he blames Netanyahu for that too.
Why isn’t everyone jumping up on this “antesemite” Tillerson?? How interesting!!
He sure is not. He’s stating the obvious that Trump was pandering to Bibis manipulation so he shldnt be deemed antisemitic by the Zionists. So predictable.
rEtARD, you read too much fake news from Der Stürmer (NYT). no wonder your brain is so demented. Stop spreading Nazi propaganda on this forum.