A book published this week by two senior American journalists reveals that US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a September 2025 telephone call that “all the Jews are sick of you” and warned that continued Israeli obstruction of a Gaza ceasefire could lead to a “divorce” between the two allies. The conversation, which took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly while Trump was promoting a 20-point peace plan, also included senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. According to the authors, the call marked a turning point in a relationship that has since been shaped by Washington’s determination to disengage from the war with Iran and by Netanyahu’s resistance to the terms of an emerging US-Iran interim pact.

Viewed from Washington, the frustration captured in the book stemmed from a series of Israeli actions that US officials regarded as undermining American diplomacy. The account details how an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar killed a Qatari security officer and prompted Doha to withdraw as a mediator in hostage and ceasefire talks. Trump is also reported to have been angered by continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which complicated efforts to bring Iran to the negotiating table. White House and State Department officials, while declining to comment on the private call, insist that the US commitment to Israel’s security remains “iron-clad” and that Israel retains the right to defend itself against Hezbollah.

Analysts in Tel Aviv and former US officials argue that the public airing of Trump’s private fury has dismantled a central pillar of Netanyahu’s political identity. For decades, the Israeli premier cultivated an image as the leader who could uniquely bend Washington to his will on Iran, addressing the US Congress more often than any of his predecessors. Former Netanyahu adviser Aviv Bushinsky described the US-Iran deal as “a decisive blow,” noting that Netanyahu has lost Trump as a friend and is now isolated internationally. Former US official Dennis Ross said the prime minister is boxed in between a US president intent on ending the conflict and a domestic base that views any concession in Lebanon as unacceptable.

The war that the US and Israel launched against Iran in February did not deliver the collapse of Tehran’s ruling system or the defeat of Hezbollah, and the interim pact now being negotiated treats Israeli objections as constraints rather than red lines. Netanyahu’s office has not directly addressed the call, but the prime minister has characterised his relationship with Trump as one of partners who “agree many times and sometimes disagree.” The revelations land as Netanyahu faces an autumn election, with the political asset on which he built his career now widely described as a liability. The US-Iran negotiations are continuing, and the White House says normalisation and regional integration remain a priority, but the book’s account signals that the personal bond that once anchored the alliance has frayed at a moment of strategic divergence.