Bob Woodward: Joe Biden's foul-mouthed outbursts and weakening influence on Israel exposed in bombshell book

The man who once broke the infamous Watergate scandal is releasing a bombshell new book that exposes the grim reality of the broken relationship between the United States and Israel.

Bob Woodward, a US journalist and author, will soon release his latest book titled War. The book, which promises to tell “the revelatory, behind-the-scenes story of three wars — Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American presidency,” will be released on Tuesday, October 5.

In it, he details the outbursts from President Joe Biden, including the times he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “bad f***ing guy” and a “f***ing liar”.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Mr Biden, who has struggled to influence his Israeli ally into agreeing to a ceasefire, or slowing down attacks in Lebanon, Iran, Gaza and Syria as tensions in the Middle East erupt.

“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f***ing guy,” Mr Biden allegedly said earlier this year when Israel ramped up its offensive military action in the Gaza Strip.

Mr Biden was said to also berate the Israeli Prime Minister when Mr Netanyahu shared his plans to send troops into Rafah, a city along the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, for military operations.

“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Mr Biden yelled at Mr Netanyahu.

When Israel proceeded with the ground invasion of Rafah, Mr Biden is said to have called Mr Netanyahu and “18 out of 19” members of his team liars.

Mr Biden allegedly also warned Mr Netanyahu about the growing shift in attitude from global leaders.

“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Mr Biden told him.

“This is (Hamas leader Ismail) Haniyeh,” Mr Netanyahu told Mr Biden according to the new book.

“One of the leading terrorists. A terrible guy. We saw an opportunity and took it.

“The harder you hit, the more successful you’re going to be in the negotiation.”

When Iran hit Israel in April with an unprecedented missile attack, Mr Biden allegedly attempted to lessen Israel’s planned retaliation.

“Take the win. Do nothing,” Mr Biden told Mr Netanyahu.

Presumably aware of his lack of influence, Mr Biden complained to aides saying: “I know he’s going to do something but the way I limit it is tell him to ‘do nothing’.”

Mr Biden is said to have complained to staff that “he (Mr Netanyahu) doesn’t give a damn” about the militant group Hamas, instead just giving “a damn only about himself”.

When Israeli took out Hezbollah military commander, Fouad Shukur and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, during a visit to Iran in June, the President said: “Bibi, what the f**k?“

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is not exempt from Mr Woodward’s scrutiny. The journalist claims that Mr Netanyahu was outraged by Ms Harris’s public comments vowing to “not be silent” on Palestinian suffering.

In a private meeting that took place before her public comments, Mr Netanyahu was reportedly greeted by a more reserved Ms Harris, who did not mention her planned vow to speak up for Palestinians at the time.

Weakening influence over Israel is not the only topic exposed in the soon-to-be-released book.

The book will also lift the lid on the unusual relationship between former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In excerpts already cited, Mr Woodward exposed conversations between the two leaders when the US sent thousands of COVID tests to Russia.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Mr Putin allegedly said to Mr Trump.

Woodward wrote Mr Trump simply replied: “I don’t care. Fine.”

Mr Trump is said to have had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office.

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, denied the accounts reported in the book.

“None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Mr Cheung said in a statement.

Woodward reports that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024.

The aide, whom Woodward doesn’t name, said there have been multiple calls between Mr Trump and Mr Putin since Mr Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven in that period, according to the book.

Mr Trump’s relationship with Mr Putin has been scrutinised since his 2016 campaign for president when the then-candidate memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said.

US intelligence agencies later determined that Russia had meddled in the 2016 election to help Mr Trump, though an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found no conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia.

In 2018, Trump publicly questioned that finding following an in-person meeting with Mr Putin in Helsinki.

In recent years, Mr Trump has criticised US support for Ukraine as it fights off Russia’s invasion.

He has said Ukraine should have made concessions to Mr Putin before Russia invaded in 2022.

- With AP