During an appearance at Harvard University on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested Israel aren't "the good guys" in the Middle East. Tillerson reserved much of his scorn for Bibi Netanyahu who might soon be out of office judging by the results of Israel's latest vote the same day Tillerson appeared at Harvard:
Netanyahu, whose 10-year reign appears in doubt after Tuesday’s election. He called Netanyahu “an extraordinarily skilled” politician and diplomat, albeit “a bit Machiavellian,” who forges good and “useful” relationships with leaders and nations he anticipates he’ll need at a future time.
Tillerson said despite Israel’s closeness with the U.S., “In dealing with Bibi, it’s always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,” recounting that Israel would share “misinformation” to persuade the U.S. of something if necessary.
“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,’” said Tillerson. “It bothers me that an ally that’s that close and important to us would do that to us.”
Tillerson did not elaborate on what sort of "misinformation" Netanyahu was giving President Trump. And if Israel aren't the "good guys" in the Middle East then who is? Does this mean that Tillerson thinks Iran and the Palestinian Authority are beacons of honesty? While serving as Secretary of State, Tillerson acknowledged his support of the Iran nuclear deal which would indicate that he has a favorable opinion of their regime.
In which case, perhaps Trump is right to say that Tillerson is as "dumb as a rock" and firing him was the correct course of action.
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