Author and journalist Bob Woodward is out with a new book titled War, scheduled for release on Oct. 15.
The 448-page work chronicles the Biden administration’s handling of and challenges associated with Russia’s war with Ukraine; Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon; and how these foreign-policy quagmires might affect a successful Democratic outcome in the 2024 presidential election come November.
In it, Woodward writes that U.S. President Joe Biden said privately that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “son of a bitch,” “a bad f****** guy” and “a f****** liar.”
He reported that Biden argued with Netanyahu behind the scenes about numerous combat-related issues. He specifically questioned the Israeli government’s focus on destroying Hamas before negotiating the release of hostages the terrorists dragged into the Gaza Strip after it crossed the border with southern Israel and massacred 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023.
Of a phone call in April, Woodward—long associated with his work for The Washington Post—writes that Biden asked Netanyahu: “What’s your strategy, man?” The prime minister responded that Israel needed to go into Rafah, in the southernmost part of Gaza and the suspected holdout of Hamas, prompting Biden to respond: “Bibi, you’ve got no strategy.”
When Iran fired more than 100 missiles at Israel later that month, Woodward says Biden discouraged Netanyahu from launching a counterattack, saying “take the win.”
Following an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30 that killed Hamas military commander Fuad Shukr, Woodward writes that Biden yelled at Netanyahu over the phone, “Bibi, what the f***?”
Biden reportedly told Netanyahu on the call that “you know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor.”
Netanyahu defended the attack, calling Shukr “one of the leading terrorists” and stating that “the harder you hit, the more successful you’re going to be in the negotiation.”
