PALESTINE
Wed 29 Mar 2023 5:30 am - Jerusalem Time
Biden says he will not invite Netanyahu to meet him, and the latter responds
US President Joe Biden told reporters that the Israeli government cannot "continue on this path" in its judicial reform plan and confirmed that he would not invite its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House "in the near term."
It is noteworthy that this is the first time that Biden has personally spoken about the judicial reform that created a crisis inside Israel, which has witnessed massive demonstrations during the past few months, forcing Netanyahu to suspend the legislation on Monday, the beginning of a strike that affected the Israeli official and private sectors, while the United States called for building Broad consensus on the judicial reform plan.
Experts believe that Biden's statement that he will not invite Netanyahu to visit the White House in the foreseeable future, but confirms the extent of the strained relations between the US administration and the Israeli government at the present time.
In response, Netanyahu said in a statement reported by Hebrew media, "Israel is an independent state that makes its decisions by the will of its citizens and not on the basis of external pressure, including from our dearest friends. I have known President Biden for more than 40 years and I appreciate his many years of commitment to Israel. The alliance between Israel and the United States is strong and always overcomes the differences of opinion that appear from time to time. The time is between us, and the government under my presidency is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the appropriate balance between the three powers that we seek to achieve with broad agreement." like he said.
President Biden told the New York Times earlier this year that any substantive changes to the Israeli judicial system must be based on consensus to gain legitimacy from the public and be sustainable.
"Like many strong supporters of Israel, I'm very worried. I'm worried that they (the Israelis) are doing it right," Biden said in North Carolina, where he launched his campaign to invest in America. "They can't continue down this path; I've kind of made that clear." .
"I hope the prime minister will act in a way that he's trying to find a real compromise, but that's not clear yet," Biden added.
And the American Axios website stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the US president later on Tuesday, saying, "Israel is an independent state that makes its decisions based on the will of its citizens and not on the basis of external pressure, including from our dearest friends."
According to Axios, Netanyahu said in a statement that he has known Biden for 40 years and appreciates his commitment to Israel. He added that the US-Israel alliance is strong and always overcomes differences that appear from time to time.
According to Axios, the US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said in a statement to Israel's Army Radio that the United States welcomes Netanyahu's decision to suspend the legislation, but added that the Israeli prime minister may be invited to the White House after Passover, "but he retracted part of his remarks and said that it had not been decided." date for such a visit.
A White House National Security Council spokesman said there was no plan for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit Washington at this time.
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Biden says he will not invite Netanyahu to meet him, and the latter responds