US President Joe Biden has been venting his frustration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in several private conversations, as per US media. According to US media reports, Biden has been critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza in his private conversations over the issue. The reports, however, added that in public, Biden has refrained from speaking harshly about Israel’s policy.
According to five people directly familiar with Biden’s private comments, Biden said that he is trying to get Israel to agree to a cease-fire, but Netanyahu is “giving him hell”. In private conversations, some of them with campaign donors, Biden expressed frustration over his inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in the Gaza Strip. During a private conversation, Biden reportedly called Netanyahu an ‘as***ole’, as reported by NBC News.
In these purported private conversations, Biden has blamed Netanyahu as the primary obstacle adding that he is impossible to deal with, people familiar with Biden’s comments said on the condition of not being named in the report.
Regarding views expressed by Biden, one of the people said, “He (Biden) just feels like this is enough. It has to stop.”
However, this is not the first time that Biden reportedly used disparaging remarks against Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month, the US President had privately called Netanyahu a “bad f***ing guy“.
The people familiar with the remarks said that Biden has, in recent weeks, spoken privately about Netanyahu, a leader he has known for decades, with a candor that has surprised some of those on the receiving end of his comments.
These people added that his descriptions of his dealings with Netanyahu are peppered with contemptuous references to Netanyahu as “this guy”.
According to three of the people directly familiar with his comments, Biden called Netanyahu an “a*****e” in at least three recent instances.
In the past few weeks, Biden attended fundraisers where he spoke about Israel and his frustrations with Netanyahu to a small group of donors. According to a supporter who was present there, Biden said, “I’m a Zionist,” reiterating that Hamas must be destroyed and that Israel must be protected. But he also aired his frustration with Netanyahu, who is often referred to as “Bibi.”
The person who was present there recalled Biden’s comments stating, “He did say Bibi started off great, but ‘he’s been a pain in my ass lately’ or ‘he’s been killing me lately’ — one of those things. He goes, ‘But he’s doing a disservice … of late.’”
However, the administration has denied reports of Biden using disparaging remarks even in private conversations. Regarding Biden’s private comments about Netanyahu, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that the two leaders have a respectful relationship.
The spokesperson said, “The president has been clear where he disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private.”
According to US media, Biden’s private unfiltered reflections on Netanyahu and the Israeli PM’s “failure” to shift tactics in Gaza, suggest that the dynamic between the two leaders could be nearing an inflection point.
Israel’s planned ground offensive in Rafah
On 7th October last year, around 3000 Hamas terrorists landed in Israel from land, sea, and air and killed over 1,200 Israelis including babies and foreign nationals, brutally assaulted, raped, and paraded women, and kidnapped over 230 Israeli and foreign nations. In response, Israel has been carrying out ground operations in Gaza to “dismantle” the terror infrastructure of Hamas. In the meantime, Israel forged a temporary peace deal with Hamas in exchange of dozens of its hostages, yet around 134 hostages remain in Hamas captivity.
At present, Israel is planning a ground assault into Rafah, a southern Gaza city housing over a million displaced Palestinians from the northern region. Despite repeated public objections from U.S. officials, who insist on safe passage for Palestinian civilians, Netanyahu remains resolute in his determination to proceed with the operation.
In a statement on Sunday, the White House said that Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call that he believes “a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan” for protecting and supporting the Palestinians sheltering there.
According to the White House, the bulk of their 45-minute conversation focused on a long-discussed but repeatedly delayed agreement between Israel and Hamas to free hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for a pause in military operations and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Earlier on Thursday, Biden took a notably sharper tone describing Israel’s military assault in Gaza as “over the top.”
Yet, people familiar with Biden’s private comments asserted that he has told them he believes it would be counterproductive for him to be too harsh on Netanyahu publicly.
