Netanyahu used fake video of Abbas 'calling for child murder' to influence Trump

Former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Woodward that prior to this incident, Trump had a doubtful relationship with Netanyahu.

The US President asked aloud whether Netanyahu may be "the real obstacle to peace" rather than Abbas, according to American media sources which published excerpts from Woodward’s book, which is titled 'Rage'.

Netanyahu showed Trump the video in Israel on May 22 2017, according to the book, and asked him: "That's the guy you want to help?"

Trump then called Tillerson and asked him to watch the video and Tillerson immediately realised that the video was a fake created from cut-up clips of Abbas's previous speeches.

"Mr. President, you realize the whole thing was was fabricated?" Tillerson said.

Trump was not convinced though. "Well it's not fabricated," he responded. "They got the guy on tape saying it."

There has never been any recorded instance of Abbas calling for the murder of children.

The next day Trump met with Abbas in Bethlehem and called him a "liar" and a "murderer", according to the book.

Read also: The Saudi and Emirati lobby networks whispering in President Trump's ear

The book that the incident played a major role in Trump's decisions to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, to close the Palestinian representative office in Washington, and to cut off almost all American aid to the Palestinian territories and Palestinian refugees.

Woodward's book, which will be published in the US on 15 September, contains information about Trump's policy decisions from hundreds of hours of interviews, including nine hours of interviews with Trump himself.

Trump, however, has called the book "a FAKE, as always, just as many of the others [books about Trump] have been".

The book details Tillerson's difficult relationship with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the architect of Trump’s much condemned "Deal of the Century" peace plan, which allows Israel to annex large parts of the West Bank and makes the establishment of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state impossible.

Tillerson, who was sacked in March 2018 and replaced by Mike Pompeo, told Kushner that Palestinians "are not going to care about your money… that's not going to buy you peace", according to the book.

The Deal of the Century plan used economic incentives to try to win Palestinian support but it was unanimously rejected by Palestinians.

The Deal of the Century plan envisioned a future Palestinian state which could not be viable or sovereign

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