In his new memoir set to be released on Tuesday, former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo writes that the US relationship with Israel is exceptionally important, even more so than those with the United Kingdom, according to a report by The Foward, who obtained an advance copy of the book.

At the same time, the former official also accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of skewing the US administration's commitment to the security of Israel for political gain and by inciting anxiety.

According to the report, Pompeo writes that Netanyahu purposely leaked a nonexistent pledge to advance a formal defense treaty between the US and Israel for political reasons. Pompeo writes that the Israeli announcement following a hastily planned 90-minute meeting between the two in Lisbon, Portugal, in December 2019 "was false." Adding, "But it was a good story for him." Netanyahu was in the midst of the second of three consecutive and contentious Israeli election campaigns that year and was also lobbying for approval of his plan to annex parts of Judea and Samaria.

Pompeo claims that Netanyahu requested the 2019 meeting because he was "worried" that Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser who was in the final stages of releasing the administration's Middle East peace plan, was "too willing to give up on Jerusalem." Pompeo and his senior adviser Brian Hook were part of the US team working on the plan.... Read More: Arutz-7