T. Belman. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why is Bibi kissing Biden’s ass rather than busting his balls for interfering in our internal affairs?
Despite not being invited to WH, Prime Minister Netanyahu says he and Biden have a ‘close friendship.‘
Israel National News Jun 29, 2023, 9:11 AM (GMT+3)
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published Thursday, discussed the rocky relationship between him and the current American administration under President Joe Biden.
“I’ve known President Biden for over 40 years, it’s been a close friendship. We don’t always agree, and we often disagree, but it’s instructive to say I think he’s self-described Zionist, pro-Israel, and I don’t think that’s an inaccurate description. Although, as in any family, we can disagree and often do, I have no doubt about his sentiment, and I trust that that will continue. And I can also tell you that in the times of the Obama administration when Mr. Biden was Vice President, he often served as a channel to try to find a middle ground during times of intense conflict, so friendship is not a question.”
The relationship between the Israeli and US administrations appears to be at a low point as Prime Minister Netanyahu has yet to receive an invitation to the White House, and some Israeli Ministers are even being boycotted completely by the Biden Administration.
Netanyahu denies the notion that the relationship is at a low point: “Now, here’s what people don’t know this issue of the invitation clouds people’s views and their knowledge of what is happening with our two governments, and in fact, the security cooperation, military cooperation, and intel cooperation, including cyber, is stronger than it’s ever been under our two governments.”
Netanyahu says while he may not go to Washington, he has met with many US officials in Israel and had many phone conversations, including with the president, “I may not go to Washington, but Washington is coming here with a steady flow.”
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Earlier in the interview, the Prime Minister discussed the controversial judicial reform legislation, which was renewed after negotiations with the opposition broke down. According to Netanyahu, the talks dissolved because the opposition was “under such political pressure that they couldn’t agree to the most minimal understanding. They couldn’t agree to things that we brought up by the opposition leaders before they went into opposition.”
Netanyahu says he had already changed several things from the original reform proposal, including doing away with the proposed Override Clause, according to which the Knesset could override a supreme court decision with a simple majority. He says the clause is out and will not return, even with a supermajority.
He added that the Judicial Selection Committee would not remain in its current form, yet it would not be changed according to the original proposal, which would have granted the coalition a substantial majority on the committee.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also spoke about the security situation in Judea and Samaria and the weakening of the Palestinian Authority, which led to more extreme factions taking control. Netanyahu says the solution to the problem is to beef up security force presence in the region while strengthening the PA. With this, he laments, “Unfortunately, the second has failed, they failed, they (the PA) are stuck in their own convoluted politics, which is undergoing some convulsion. But I think you’re quite right; northern Samaria has become sort of a no-man’s-land in which you have more and more terror attacks that emanate from there. My policy has been to keep the PA; I don’t want it dissolved the way people are talking, it’s simply ridiculous,” he concluded.
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